New Rachel, New Normal
by X.G. Sky
Summary: AU, Rachel is in college at NYADA, she married Finn and he lives with her in her dorm. Complications erupt when Rachel meets a new leading man. She reaches out to Quinn in an attempt to start over. Rachel/Finn at the beginning, Rachel/Brody friendship, Rachel/Quinn eventually. Kurt's in here too. (COMPLETE)
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer- I do not own Glee or any of it's characters.

A/N: Okay, so I don't watch Glee anymore, but I have been forced to see commercials about it even though I don't watch Fox at all. So I got some ideas about Rachel in college if she had married Finn. This story is more of Rachel figuring things out, but Quinn does come into the story later on.

* * *

"So, this is the bed? Where am I supposed to fit?"

"Can you not fit? I'm sorry, I didn't really think about it when I saw the room before."

"Um, I guess I could just lie on the floor."

"No, oh I know. We could get you one of those air mattresses from Bed, Bath and Beyond. That way you'll at least be comfortable."

"But how are we gonna…you know?"

"Um, we'll work something out, Finn. Now, let's finish putting up my Barbra posters."

Rachel cannot believe she made it to New York, enrolled in NYADA and married to love of her life, Finn Hudson. After all of the flack they endured for wanting to get married right out of high school, and all of their worries about their futures, things ended up working out. She knew that she could have it all, a husband, friends and a career, well she has the first two, but she's working on the last.

School starts and it is stressful because her dance teacher is a little mean, she constantly berates her, singling her out because she had fallen out of step once or twice. But she enjoys all of her other classes, like singing, which she does exceptionally well. She has made small talk with a few of the other freshman, but everyone seems to keep to themselves.

The night before the second week of school, Rachel is awakened by the sound of Finn snoring away on his mattress. She decides to go use the bathroom and apply some moisturizer to her face since she's up now.

She makes her way into the co-ed bathroom when she hears a man singing in the shower. She wonders who it is behind this soothing voice, maybe he could become her new duet partner.

She moisturizes and listens quietly as he continues singing after turning off the shower. Rachel is mesmerized until he suddenly appears completely naked. All she sees is rippling muscles and then when her eyes venture further south, she quickly averts her eyes with a small squeal. He jumps and scrambles to grab a towel to cover himself.

"Oh my God! I'm sorry." She apologizes as she covers her eyes with her hand.

"Uh, it's okay. I didn't know anyone was in here. You scared the hell out of me." He says out of breath.

"I'm really sorry, I was just distracted by your voice. You're really good." She says, still covering her eyes.

"Thanks, well I'm Brody, Brody Weston." He takes her hand to shake it. "It's okay, I'm decent." He chuckles.

Rachel carefully removes her hand to find that he is toweled at the waist, leaving his still dripping upper body exposed.

"Um, I-I'm Rachel Berry." She stammers.

They shake hands.

"I-I'd better go, get some sleep for tomorrow."

"Hey, I think we're in the same classes. I heard you sing last week and I have to say you're not so bad yourself."

Rachel beams at the compliment. "Thank you well I guess I'll see you around."

"Yeah I guess so." He says before winking at her.

Rachel goes back into her room, to her snoring husband, feeling a little more excited having made a friend here at school.

They see each other in class the next day and he asks her to have lunch with him in the quad. They sit on a bench, eating salads and talking. Rachel tells him where she's from and about glee club winning National's. She finds him to be a great listener, and very well spoken.

"It's really great out here. Thanks for inviting me to lunch, usually I'm eating in my dorm with my husband."

"Wait, you're married?" Brody asks out of shock.

"Oh, did I not mention that?" Rachel frowns, it just never came up she guesses.

"Wow so small town girl with the big-time voice is already taken, smart guy. Does he go here too?"

Rachel is slightly embarrassed to say. "No, he is still figuring out what he wants to do. He lives here with me though."

She can see the concern on Brody's face as she tells him that. His eyebrows shoot up and he looks like he wants to say something, but holds his tongue out of politeness. Somehow, yet again she feels the need to defend her reasons for being with Finn.

"Look, I know what you're about to say, but me and Finn, we love each other. Isn't that enough?" She watches as he takes a big bite of his salad as he turns away from her.

"A lot of our friends and family disproved, but I knew in my heart that we were going to be together forever. So-"

"See that right there?" He interrupts.

"Don't get me wrong. We really don't know each other well, but you just spoke in the past tense about being together forever with him."

Rachel thinks back to what she just said. "You know what I meant. No matter what, I know I made the right decision." She finishes with a curt nod. Brody puts up his hands as if he were backing off.

"I'm a junior now, but if I'd kept my high school girlfriend during freshman year, _I _wouldn't have made it. It was just too much stress on it's on. You're a newlywed, so I know you must be going through it." He says.

"I-I'm coping. Finn's always there when I'm having a bad day. So that's comforting."

"Well that's good."

The rest of Rachel's day goes by smoothly, that is until dance class in the late afternoon.

"Berry! What the hell are you doing over there? Keep up!"

Rachel can feel her face burning once again as she is singled out from the entire class. She has been working her butt off trying to improve her dance skills and Ms. July seems to not notice. At the end of class Ms. July pulls her aside.

"I told you during the first week that if you didn't want this bad enough, don't bother showing up. I guess you weren't listening so I'll tell you again, don't come back in here until you pull your head out of your ass and follow simple directions. I can't have you wasting my and your fellow classmates time with your inept abilities." Ms. July shakes her head in disappointment before walking away.

Rachel finds herself speechless. She cannot believe she's practically being kicked out of dance class even though she has improved since the first week. She knows she has gotten better, she has practiced as much as she can in her dorm, when Finn bothers to pick up his mattress. Things would be so much easier if she had Brittany or Quinn here to help her learn the moves. She will not accept defeat though, she just has to find someone here who knows the steps…Brody.

She goes back to her room and collapses onto her bed.

"Hey, want me to make you one too?" Finn asks her as he plates on of the grilled cheese sandwiches on his plate.

"What? How many times do I have to tell you? I'm vegan, which means no meat or dairy, Finn." She cannot believe that he still forgets things like that after all this time.

He sits down on his blow-up mattress with a plate of two grilled cheese sandwiches and a mountain of potato chips on the side. Rachel usually has no problem with the disturbing way that Finn scarves down his food, but today, she cannot stand it.

He chews sloppily as he sits there, watching their tiny television. The crunching and smacking sounds grate on her nerves, she sits up and just watches him. Her eyes dart back and forth between the plate and his mouth. The sound of his smacking seems to pierce through her brain, causing her to want to smack the plate out of his hand to make it stop.

She hops suddenly out of bed, deciding to go anywhere that isn't here, listening to Finn.

"I'm going for a walk." Rachel says calmly, the opposite of what she feels.

"Okay." Finn replies, not once looking away from the tv.

The next day at lunch with Brody, she asks him about helping her with her dancing. They agree to practice after class in his dorm a few times a week.

She eats lunch with Brody for the rest of the week. They also see each other after dance class in his dorm, where they practice dancing, but on a few occasions end up talking for an hour.

Rachel only tells Finn that she is putting in extra time practicing, but she doesn't tell him she's doing it with another guy. There's no reason to make him jealous when there is nothing going on between her and Brody.

She sings a solo in class Friday, Brody is the only one who gives her a standing ovation in front of everyone. She blushes hard, and thanks him after class.

"Thank you for the support."

"You were amazing, those other guys are probably jealous. You deserved applause for that."

"Well, I'm glad you liked it."

"Hey, so since we don't have dance today, maybe we could go do something."

"Oh, I don't know about that. I have to go spend some time with Finn, he's been complaining about me staying out late this week."

"I understand. Well I'll see you Monday then."

"Okay."

She watches as he walks off, he is such a great friend, but Rachel believes that he may want a little more than that. Even though she is attracted to him, she cannot see herself going there with him, regardless if she were with Finn or not.

Later that night, Rachel lies on the noisy mattress with Finn. He is beside her, hovering above, kissing her neck softly. It has been a while since they had done this, but for some reason, Rachel cannot get into it. Her mind wonders to all sorts of things, from Brody in the hallway earlier, to dance class and stupid Ms. July.

The thought of Ms. July sticks in her brain for some reason. She is such a bitch dancing around in her tight leotard, with her firm abs and blond hair. She thinks about how Quinn used to be mean to her, but she came around to being her friend. Ms. July seems like a lost cause, but she'll keep trying to prove she's good enough.

She finally starts to get into it, kissing him with more enthusiasm and grabbing at his chest, palming the soft mounds there. He immediately pulls her hands away.

"Hey, don't do that." He tells her.

"What?"

"You grab at my chest sometimes like I have boobs or something."

"Oh, sorry." She tries to kiss him again, but he pulls back.

"I can't anymore. Every time you do that it makes me feel imma- um, less than a man." He says as he sits up.

"Immasculated?" Rachel helps him out.

"Yeah, look I know I've gained a few pounds since we got together, and my chest has gotten jiggly, so could you try not to do that. I guess I'm just sensitive about my chest."

"I-I'm sorry Finn. Have you thought about exercising a little, you have free reign of the gym here. Maybe you could lift weights or something?" Rachel hopes that she comes off as helpful, she doesn't want Finn to feel pressured into anything.

"I know, it's just sometimes, I'll think about exercising for a minute, but then I'll go and make myself a couple grilled cheeses instead."

Rachel thinks about the other day when she had to watch Finn gobble down all that food, she shudders.

The rest of their weekend goes smoothly, mainly because they went out on the town. They had a lot of fun together at the movies and dinner at a restaurant that actually has vegan options.

It's Wednesday, the day that Kurt is arriving in New York. He told her Monday that he would come see her and Finn later today.

She sends Kurt a text during her lunch with Brody:

Hey Kurt, so glad you're coming. I really need someone to talk to. I met this really cute guy from class, I'm with him right now, we've been eating lunch together every day.

He's so hot, you should see his body! Oh, and his _voice_, Kurt, definitely leading man material. I digress though, he is actually really cool and smart and funny. I'll introduce you two when you arrive, later. -Rachel

She presses send and gets back to her conversation with Brody. They share a vegan wrap for lunch. She found out last week that he eats vegetarian sometimes just to keep healthy.

She meets Kurt out by the curb as he exits his taxi. They run to each other, and he picks her up and spins her around.

"I can't believe you're in New York, Kurt!"

"Neither can I!"

"How have you been?"

He tells her why he decided to drop everything to come to New York. They catch up on the latest gossip concerning everyone back in Lima and her remaining friends at McKinley.

"So, have you talked to Quinn?" He asks curiously.

The question takes her by surprise, she hadn't talked to Quinn since after graduation.

Quinn hasn't called and she admits that she's scared to call her herself. She just knows Quinn will be angry with her for going through with the wedding after everything that had happened.

"No, I haven't." She replies morosely.

"Really? I would have thought you'd keep in contact seeing as she only gave _you_ those expensive passes. I mean, she obviously wanted to see you again, otherwise she wouldn't have bought those tickets. Why aren't you guys speaking?"

Rachel swallows hard, her mouth has become extremely dry suddenly. She misses Quinn dearly, but she has no idea how to tell her that.

"Hey, let's not talk about that right now, I-I'm thirsty. Plus, I need to tell you more about my new friend here."

"What new friend?"

"Uh, the one I texted you about earlier."

"You didn't text me earlier or at all today. Did you receive a response?"

"No, but I did send it. Hold on," she takes out her cell phone and checks her sent messages.

"Oh my God! No! Kurt! I accidentally sent that message to Finn!" Rachel yells hysterically. Kurt snatches her phone and reads the message.

"What? My god, Rachel. You really know how to self sabotage don't you."

"Kurt!"

"Well maybe he hasn't checked it yet."

"I have to talk to him." She turns around and heads towards her dorm.

"I'm coming with." Kurt says as he trails behind her.

They walk into the dorm to find Finn huddled in the middle of the floor, his blow up mattress packed away. His eyes are puffy and his nose is red, he had been crying.

"Finn, it's not what it sounded like, that guy he's just a classmate. I was thinking of introducing him to Kurt. It says so in the message. Why is all your stuff packed up?"

"You think I believe that? After the way you've been acting towards me, like, like you're disgusted with me sometimes. Then you wanted me exercise. What? To look more like him!"

"No, I don't want that. You were the one insecure about your body, I was merely suggesting-"

"Right, and what about all that other stuff, huh. You never told you were eating lunch with him. I'd call and you'd say your were eating out and when I asked to come you have all these excuses. And all that stuff you said about him, you've been staying out later and later. I can't believe I was so blind!"

She looks down at her hands, clasped together in her lap as he stands over her yelling.

"You hardly ever wanna have sex, and every time we do, you drift off somewhere into your own world. You don't even look at me. But you know what? I now see how much of a mistake it was marrying you. Kurt can I stay with you for a while? I cannot stay here with her anymore. I should've listened to you Kurt, Quinn too."

Rachel is stunned speechless but her head snaps up at the mention of Quinn's name.

Finn grabs his things and abruptly storms out of the room.

"Rachel honey, are you okay?" Kurt asks. He was uncharacteristically quiet as well. She looks up at him with tearless glassy eyes.

"Rachel," he shakes her by the shoulders.

"That's it? It was that easy for him to leave me. I thought that being married meant that he trusted me. That it would keep him from leaving me."

"Oh sweetheart," Kurt looks down at her with a sympathetic expression.

"But Kurt," she half smiles.

"I thought I would be devastated." She removes his hand from her shoulders and holds one.

"I thought that I would just die if he ever left. Maybe I'm in shock, or something or maybe it was time to quit fooling ourselves. All that stuff he said was true, although a little one-sided, but true nonetheless." She takes a deep breath.

"I did all those things. I'm going to be fine." Rachel nods as she walks Kurt to the door. "Take him with you and try to calm him down. Okay, goodnight Kurt."

The minute he's out the door, Rachel takes another deep breath. She turns and leans her back against the door's cool surface. She feels empty and a little anxious, but anxious for what exactly?

Her room feels hollow as she goes to bed alone for the first time in months. One thing she will miss is the warmth Finn provided inside this cold cement dorm.

The next day Rachel wakes up feeling well rested. She looks down and realizes that it was probably because her sleep hadn't been disrupted by Finn's snoring.

Later on at lunch with Brody, she tells him what happened.

"He just left?"

"Yes. The thing is, I don't feel very heartbroken. One should, shouldn't they? I mean, my _husband_ left me last night. I feel like I wasn't a good wife, maybe we weren't ready. We probably should have listened to Quinn."

"Who's Quinn? Is that Finn's sibling or something?"

"What? Hardly. They used to date, so I hope not."

"So, _she_ used to date Finn too?"

"Yes, it's kind of a long story. She goes to Yale now though."

"Wow, she must be really smart."

"She is. She's very beautiful as well. You'd probably ditch me to hang out with her the minute you see her."

"I doubt that. So your smart, beautiful friend told you not to get married so young, and you didn't take her advice. Why?"

"I actually have no clue."

"Oh excuse me I have to take this. Hey, Kurt,"

Kurt tells her that he's on his way to take her to lunch. She tells him that she's already having lunch with Brody.

"Really, Rachel. I have to meet this guy that's causing you to cast Finn aside like yesterday's garbage. I'm coming now."

"What? He left me, Kurt."

"Well you gave him little choice, what with that text message and all that weird sex stuff that I really wish I hadn't heard."

"Just- get over here." She hangs up her phone.

"That was my best friend Kurt. Well, actually he's Finn's stepbrother too. He's coming to meet you since he is suspicious of our newly formed friendship."

"Okay cool, I'll show him just how much of a nice guy I am. And that I had _nothing_ to do with you and your husband's…breakup?"

"I guess you could say that. Though I'm not quite sure of the finality of anything so soon."

"Right, you two might be back together by the weekend. You couples are weird like that."

Rachel laughs it off, but she is sincerely doubtful of that outcome.

Kurt arrives, a few minutes later and he walks right over to them.

"Hey,"

"Hey, Kurt. This is Brody, Brody this is my best friend Kurt." She watches as Brody looks up at Kurt with an unreadable expression on his face. She lightly nudges him in the side with her elbow.

"Oh, um. Hi. Nice to finally meet you." He stammers out, whilst shaking Kurt's hand with a huge smile plastered across his face.

She sees Kurt look him from top to bottom, then he gives her his look of approval. Approval for what exactly, she does not know.

The three of them make small talk for a little while before Brody has to go. He leaves, and they decide to walk to her dorm to talk some more.

"Okay, so he is just scrumptious. Rachel, why didn't you tell me?"

"I tried to remember?"

"Oh right. So, you and Finn? Nevermore?"

"What did he say?"

"He hasn't said much, but mostly he said that he hasn't been happy for a while and your accidental text just brought it all out."

"Hmm, so that's it. It's over then. I, too have not been as happy as I should've been being married to him. Everything he would do, began to annoy me to my wits end. I was starting to think about what it'd be like without him here, living with me. What kind of wife thinks things like that about her husband?"

"You'd be surprised."

"So it's normal for a wife to fantasize about her husband choking on his fourth grilled cheese sandwich that he insists on eating in bed."

"Well, _that's_ not normal. Rachel, I really don't want to say I told you so, but you two were so not ready for marriage. Sure you love each other, but sometimes that isn't enough. Especially if the sex isn't good."

"What? He told you that?"

"No, I was going by that stuff he said last night."

"Oh, well it's true. We just weren't on the same page when it came to being together. He always hated the way that I touched him."

"What do you mean? I would have thought he'd like for you to touch him."

"Well he is really insecure about his…chest, and he told me that I kept treating him like he had boobs." She confesses as she looks down at her hands.

She can hear Kurt snickering and she looks pointedly up at him. He covers his mouth in an effort to stifle his laughter.

"Kurt, this is no laughing manner. I'm talking about the downfall of my marriage, to _your_ brother."

"Sorry, I just…it's kind of funny when you think about it." She gives him another serious look.

"Okay maybe not today, but you'll find it funny a few weeks from now."


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: I hope you guys enjoy this chapter, it has more sort of canon (I think) influences.

Also, Quinn shows up.

* * *

Ever since things with Finn went south, Rachel has been able to get back in touch with herself. The only bad thing that has happened so far is not talking to Kurt as much anymore.

Being an only child and going through school without many friends for _years_, had conditioned her to survive on her own. She never needed any support from others to keep working hard. Somehow, she had gone off track with Finn, but now her ambition to be the best has been reinvigorated.

Dance is still her weak point, but Brody has truly been helpful in her improvement over time. Ms. July went from making less harsh comments to none at all recently. Their new assignment is to choreograph their own routine and Rachel rushes to ask Brody to be in her group.

"Sure," He replies.

"So, what style do you think will impress Ms. July?"

"From past experience, she really wants something provocative, but subtle. So I think we should do the tango."

"Tango? I have never done the tango. You have to teach me, I have to get this right."

"Okay, calm down. Don't worry, you'll get it we can practice all weekend okay."

"Okay."

Rachel goes back to her dorm room to look up videos of people dancing the tango. She watches a lot of different ones and tries copying some of the moves. It is pretty tough, but she knows that with Brody's help, they'll impress Ms. July.

They perform the tango in class, Rachel locks eyes with Ms. July several times to try and gauge her reactions. When the song ends, there is a smattering of applause from her fellow classmates, and Ms. July herself.

Rachel holds in a squeal when she sees the look of approval on her teacher's face. She actually smiled a little.

After class, Ms. July pulls her arm as she walks past to leave.

"Nice routine."

"I'm happy you liked it."

"I did, but you can still use some practice on your footwork."

"Alright I'll give you that, but I'm going to continue to improve until I am your best student."

"You know, you're determination is admirable, you're on your way to becoming one of my favorites."

"Thank you."

"Maybe if you stay late tomorrow I can give you some pointers okay."

Rachel is surprised by Ms. July's offer, if she didn't know any better she would think that she was flirting with her.

She makes her way to her dorm when Brody calls out to her.

"Hey, can you believe that? She actually clapped for us."

"I know, she just told me that she liked our routine and then she offered to give me some pointers after class."

"Uh oh."

"What?"

"Well I don't want to jump the gun here, but Ms. July kind of has a reputation of you know, sleeping with her students."

"Excuse me? I mean, she may have been a little flirty with me, but I doubt that she wants to be with someone like me."

"Why not? You're beautiful, talented and you have great hair."

"You're just saying that." Rachel blushes. Brody is looking at her funnily and she nervously tucks a strand of hair behind her ear.

Brody moves forward and kisses her. Rachel's eyes go wide as pushes him away.

"Sorry." He apologizes quickly.

"Brody, what are you doing?" Rachel cannot believe that just happened, she thought that they were just friends.

"I don't know." He frowns as he stares at the ground.

"I-I'm flattered but…have I lead you on?" She asks curiously.

"No, I just needed to…never mind." He says before running off.

Rachel looks after him, confused. What did Brody mean? She gets to her room and plops down on her bed. She thinks about calling Kurt about this, but decides not to.

She lies in bed thinking about everything that happened today. From her successful dance routine, to Brody kissing her, and then Ms. July offering to tutor her and possibly hitting on her. Everything is so…confusing. She really needs to talk to someone about this, someone without a penis. Only one person comes to mind, and that someone is Quinn. She's the only girl that could give her insightful advice without judgment, but they haven't spoken in so long.

She hops from the bed and rummages through one of her drawers until she finds it, her metro pass. She decides to make a surprise trip to visit Quinn, hopefully she'll welcome her with open arms. That seems unlikely though, but she can only hope for the best.

Catching the train had taken some getting used to, but Rachel mastered it after studying her maps. She sighs as the train to New Haven arrives at its destination. She gets a cab to take her the rest of the way.

The prestigious campus of Yale astounds Rachel. She sort of wishes Mrs. Pillsbury had given her more options for college, she probably would have preferred choices like this. She finds out which dorm Quinn is staying in and she hopes that she's there.

She knocks on the door, she hears low talking and tries to decipher if it's Quinn or not.

"Who is it?" A voice that isn't Quinn asks.

"Um, Rachel Berry, I'm here to see Quinn."

There is a pause and then the door swings open.

"Rachel, what are you doing here? What happened? Did Finn die?" Quinn asks worriedly.

Rachel is shocked that Quinn's mind would jump to such conclusions at her unscheduled visit.

"No, Quinn, nothing's wrong. Finn's fine. Um, I just wanted to see you, I-I missed you."

"What? We haven't talked since graduation."

"I know, and I wanted to talk to you about that, but I didn't want to just call-"

"Well, you should have."

"Look, I know you're upset with me for going through with the wedding. I just feel that maybe if we talked-"

"What's there to talk about? I haven't even thought about you or Finn for a long time. That part of my life is over and I'm happy here at Yale so…"

"Finn left me." Rachel hates that she just blurted it out like that, but the expression on Quinn's face softens from the apathetic one she held before.

"What do you want me to say? I told you so?"

"No, I just need someone to talk to. You're the only person that I know who could give me great advice despite my unwillingness to listen to said advice."

"Hold on." Quinn closes the door and reappears a few seconds later with a coat.

"Let's go get some coffee, we could talk there." Quinn tells her.

"Okay." Rachel says as she skips along to keep up with Quinn's stride.

As they walk, Rachel takes some time to study Quinn. She's wearing _pants_, skinny ones, a sweater, with a navy peacoat. She looks more refreshed, she cut her hair again and it looks good. Overall, she does appear happier than she used to be. Her face is relaxed, but she seems to be mulling over something in her head. Sometimes Rachel just wants to climb inside of Quinn's brain to see what she's _really_ thinking.

"It's this place right here."

Rachel looks up to see an inconspicuous sign for a small coffee shop that seems to be frequented by a few locals.

They order their coffee after snagging a table near the shop window. They sit in silence as they wait for their order to arrive.

The barista slash waiter brings over their coffee after he brews it, a few minutes later.

"This is delicious." Rachel expressed after taking her first sip of her coffee.

"It is. That's why I come here instead of any major coffee shop."

There is another lull in their conversation.

Rachel doesn't know where to begin. She doesn't want to say anything to upset Quinn or blurt out everything all at once, sort of like she had at Quinn's dorm.

"So, um you wanted to talk? I'm listening."

"Right, I, um, I don't know where to begin. Things were stressful for a while since I'd started school, being married and all. A few times I'd thought about you and how you wanted to keep in touch, I really missed you. "

"Well, you could have called me."

"I-I know, I was just…scared."

"Scared? Why?"

"I thought that you would be angry with me for marrying Finn after everything."

"When I found out, I was upset, yes. Mainly because you didn't tell me yourself. Therefore, I wouldn't have refused your phone call. Like I said, I've moved on from all of the things in my past that caused me any frustration or confusion."

"So, me coming here is bringing up those past feelings that you had gotten rid of? I apologize if I've disrupted your newly serene mental state. Maybe I should go."

"No. Rachel, you _are_ beginning to frustrate me, but that's not what I meant. It wasn't about you, there were things that I needed to let go of, so that I could move forward with my life and enjoy my time here."

"Oh, sorry. And I'm sorry for not calling you and letting you know that I had gone through with it."

"Water under the bridge, okay?"

"Okay." They smile kindly at one another. Rachel watches Quinn take another sip of her coffee.

"Quinn, if you had been there, would you have stopped the wedding?"

"The first time, yes. I don't know what I would have done the second time."

Rachel smiles and laughs lightly.

"That's why I'm here Quinn. You have been a better friend to me than many of my so-called best friends have. You tell me the truth, you don't hold your tongue and you try to stop me from doing stupid things even if I don't always want to listen."

"I could say the same thing about you Rachel." Quinn says coyly.

"So, are we good?"

"We're more than good."

Quinn clasps her hand from across the table. Rachel finds herself awestruck at Quinn's open affection, this may take some getting used to.

"Hey Quinn!" Someone calls out, and as quickly as the warm gesture came, it went.

Quinn stands up with a bright smile on her face. She pulls the guy into a hug, which is friendly enough, until he pulls back and kisses her cheek.

Rachel cannot figure out why, but she always felt uncomfortable watching Quinn being intimate with a guy. Whether it were with Finn or Sam, it always made her feel awkward seeing it.

This guy was no different, except he was at least five inches taller than Quinn, with dark hair and green eyes. He has one of those scruffy beards that guys in indie bands have and he's wearing a scarf around his neck.

"Hey Rich," Quinn greets him as they finally pull apart. "This is my friend Rachel, Rachel this is Rich he's in my women's studies class."

"Hello." Rachel says curtly.

"Hey." He says with a small wave.

Rachel watches him as he becomes fidgety, and then he stuffs his hands in his pockets.

"So, um, we're throwing a party at my friend Jake's house tonight. I was wondering if you wanted to come?"

Rachel watches him as he stares hopefully at Quinn. Could he be more obvious? She looks to Quinn who seems not to notice.

"I don't know Rich, my friend's here from out of town-"

"She could come too." He looks down at Rachel, she turns away and pretends she doesn't hear as she continues to sip her coffee.

"We'll think about it." Quinn says.

"Okay, well I'll see you tonight maybe."

"Yeah, okay, bye."

Quinn takes her seat again. "Sorry about that. He's been inviting me to parties since school started. And I have yet to go to one of them."

Rachel giggles, that guy Rich has a lot to learn about Quinn Fabray. She takes another sip of her now cooler coffee.

"So, are you going to tell me what happened?"

"What, between me and Finn?"

"Yeah, unless you don't want to talk about it."

"No, it's fine. We had a lot of issues that we kept sweeping under the rug. That, topped with the fact that he thinks that I cheated on him"

"Wait. You cheated?"

"No, I said he thinks that I did. I also let him think it was true."

"Why?"

"It was partially true. I met this guy, Brody, from school and I didn't tell Finn anything about him. I started spending a lot of time with him, talking and eating lunch together. But we are only friends, so I guess I cheated on Finn emotionally."

"So you never kissed this Brody?"

"Well, I didn't when I was with Finn."

"And now?"

"He kissed me, today actually." She sees Quinn's eyebrows shoot up.

"So,"

"I'm not sure how I feel about it. We've become such good friends and even though he is quite attractive, I don't see him as anything more. I think he may want more and I just don't feel the same way. I value our friendship, but I'm afraid he won't want to hang around with me anymore."

"Wow, I'm sorry to hear that. You should just tell him what you just told me, if he is truly a friend, he'll understand."

"I hope you're right."

"So, are you going to divorce Finn?"

"I guess so. I should probably call him about that."

Quinn doesn't say anything, she continues to drink the rest of her coffee as she stares out of the window. She is sporting that same thoughtful expression she had earlier. Rachel needs to know what is going on inside of her head.

"Quinn," Rachel wonders why her voice came out so quietly.

"Hmm," Quinn looks over at her.

"How are things, with you?"

Rachel watches as Quinn stretches her back against her chair, her chest arching outward, catches Rachel's sight. Rachel quickly averts her eyes.

"Well, things have been great, some classes are tough, but I like a challenge. I tried to keep to myself when I first got here, but I ended meeting some pretty cool people."

"It makes me really happy to see you doing well, you deserve it."

"You speak too soon, we haven't even taken our finals yet." Quinn laughs.

They talk a little while longer before they leave the coffee shop, they argued a little over who should pay, and Quinn won.

Rachel walks back with Quinn to campus and they stand outside to wait for her cab to arrive.

"Um, I'm glad you came Rachel."

"Really?" Rachel cannot help her huge grin. She looks up at Quinn, that same intense stare that she remembers is there. "So, can I call you sometime?"

She really wants to keep talking to Quinn, but she has no idea when she should call her. She calls Kurt whenever she feels like it. Sometimes she doesn't call at all and then he'll call her, but her friendship with Quinn has never been that comfortable.

"Yeah, I get out of class at four, so you can call me after that." Quinn nods as she chews her bottom lip.

Her cab arrives, and she turns to Quinn to wave goodbye. As soon as she turns, she is enveloped in warmth as Quinn pulls her into an unexpected hug. She immediately grips into Quinn's back, taking a deep breath. She really needed a hug.

When they pulled apart, her eyes were watering. If Quinn noticed, she didn't show it, she just kept smiling her beautiful smile. Rachel got into the cab and watched as Quinn stood there watching her drive away.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Well, I'm glad you guys are enjoying this story. Please review and tell me what you think. Thanks.

* * *

Dance class started off with an odd start today, Brody came in and greeted Rachel with an unenthusiastic 'hey' before walking away. Rachel looked over at him several times during class with an expectant look on her face, but she got nothing in return.

Then when it came time to partner up, Rachel saw that as an opportunity to get back to normal. Brody was always her partner, until today, he saw Rachel coming and grabbed the nearest girl. Rachel visibly deflated and turned to find someone standing next to her. He said that his name was Donald, and she danced with him until class was over.

Her mind was so caught up in thoughts about what was wrong with Brody, that Rachel didn't remember many of the steps. Usually, she would be able to ask Brody for help, but he is either hurt, or being a real jerk to her. She decides not to dwell on it though, but it looks like she will have to take Ms. July up on those lessons after class.

"Excuse me, Ms. July?"

"Oh, hey Rachel. What can I do for you?"

"Well I was wondering, if the offer for help after class is still there."

"Definitely, you seemed out of it today. I was going to comment about it, but I also noticed that you and Brody didn't dance together today. Did you two break-up or something?"

"No, w-we were never dating. We're friends, I think."

"Oh, sorry. You two became so close, I just assumed."

"It's alright. So, can I start today? I forgot a few of the steps already."

"Sure."

Ms. July goes over to the stereo and starts the song again. Rachel goes over to the mirror to get into position. Suddenly, Ms. July is behind her with her hands on her waist, Rachel jumps forward and turns around.

"What are you doing?" She asks apprehensively.

"I'm showing you the steps, you had a partner earlier. Do you not remember?" Ms. July looks at her with a puzzled expression.

Rachel curses Brody silently for putting those thoughts about her teacher into her head. She straightens up and gets back into position with Ms. July.

"Are we good?"

"Yes."

They run through the routine a few times until Ms. July thinks that Rachel has it down. Rachel gathers her things and Ms. July smiles at her on her way out. She still wants to kick herself for the way she reacted earlier. She really wishes that she could talk to Brody, so that she could throw it in his face that he was wrong.

When Rachel gets back into her room, she gets out her phone and pulls up Quinn's number. She feels nervous suddenly, and wipes her palm on her bed before swiping the call button.

"Hello,"

"Hi, um it's me, Rachel."

"I know."

"Oh, right. Well I was just calling, you know, to see how you were today." Rachel bites her fist, she hardly ever talked to Quinn on the phone, and she had no idea what to say.

"You don't have to be nervous Rachel, it's just me."

"Okay." Rachel replied meekly.

"Yeah, but I had a good day though. We're reading one of my favorite books in literature and I got put in the front of my dance class."

"Really? That's great Quinn. I wish I could say the same about my dancing, I had to take a private lesson with my teacher today."

"Private? This guy isn't a creep is he?"

"Quinn, my teacher is a woman and no, she isn't a creep. At least I hope not. Brody did say she had a reputation for sleeping with students."

"That's highly inappropriate. If she tries anything, you should report her."

"I'll keep that in mind if things get out of hand. Hey, remember when I told you that stuff about Brody?"

"Yeah,"

"Well I tried to talk to him today, but he avoided me. What am I supposed to do now?"

"I'm not sure you should go chasing after him. Let him come to you. Are you sure you don't like him, as more than a friend?"

"Quinn, I told you, he was a good friend up until the kiss. I just miss having someone to talk to here."

"Okay, well maybe he needs some time. It would probably take a while for him to get over you. And then when you do talk again, don't be surprised if he acts like he still likes you."

"Thank you Quinn. I hadn't thought about him needing time. You obviously have lived through this before. You probably have tons of Brody's up there at Yale."

"Not exactly, but the situation is familiar."

They talk for another hour about classes and Rachel even sings Quinn a few bars of the song that she'll be singing in class on Friday.

After hanging up with Quinn, Rachel calls up Kurt. It has been a while, so much has happened and she really needs to find out if Finn's going to file the divorce papers.

"Well long time, no hear."

"Hey Kurt, how's bachelor life treating you two?"

"It is about to be pretty great, seeing as I'll have the place to myself again soon."

"Why? Is Finn going back to Ohio?"

"He didn't tell you? Rachel, he enlisted in the Army. We're leaving tomorrow to go back to Ohio, so that he could say goodbye to our parents. He's leaving from there to Texas. I thought he would have told you by now."

Rachel feels torn, it's true, the Army could be good for Finn, but it's so dangerous. He has always been clumsy, all it would take is one mistake.

"Is he there? Can I talk to him?" She hears rustling on the line.

"Uh, hello?" Finn answers.

"Why didn't you tell me?" She yells.

"Rachel, I need to do this, and I didn't want you trying to talk me out of it. You don't even have the right to, but I know you would've tried."

"Finn, I know we're not together, but we are still legally married. How are we going to handle that with you all the way in Texas?"

"About that, I was thinking we should stay married. For a while, that way if something happens to me, you'll get my benefits."

Rachel finds herself at a loss for words. Finn is actually being thoughtful. She doesn't want to think about anything happening to him, so she'll agree to this for a few months.

"Okay, but only for a few months. Oh, I almost forgot. I have the ring, if you want it back. I'll come over tomorrow before you guys leave and give it to you."

"No, you keep it. Maybe pawn it or something."

"You know what? I'll sell it and use the money to send you care packages, how about that?"

"That sounds nice. Hey, do you think they'll let you send grilled cheese?"

The next day Rachel makes it to Kurt's apartment in time to see them bringing down Finn's bags.

"Hey," Finn greets her in a subdued tone.

"I can't believe you're really going." Rachel says airily.

"It doesn't feel like it, I guess it'll hit me after I see my mom. She was really pissed when I told her."

"I can imagine."

Kurt comes back in. "The taxi is here you guys."

"Well I guess this is goodbye."

Finn bends down and sweeps her into a big hug. She holds onto him, memorizing his feel and taking in his scent one last time. When they part, he leans down and captures her lips in one final kiss goodbye.

"Goodbye Finn."

His lip quirks up into his silly half smile. "Bye Rachel."

She hugs Kurt before he gets into the taxi. She watches as the taxi drives away until she cannot see it anymore.

Quinn calls her Friday afternoon, she tells her that she has tickets to see a concert at Radio City Music Hall. Rachel agrees to go even though she doesn't know who will be playing. She doesn't care, anyway.

"So I'll be there around eight, meet me at the station and we'll leave from there okay."

"Okay, see you tonight Quinn, and thank you for inviting me."

"You're welcome, I just thought that you would enjoy going out since you said that you had no one to talk to out there."

Rachel smiles and tries to control herself to keep from letting out a giddy squeal. She is extremely excited for tonight, partly because she is going to a concert, also because she is going with Quinn.

They hang up, and Rachel immediately goes into her closet, searching for the perfect outfit to impress Quinn. She makes it to the Grand Central Station at eight o'clock exactly, dressed in a wool pencil skirt and tights, paired with a military style jacket and loafers.

Quinn approaches her with a bright smile. Her outfit mirrors Rachel's, she's wearing a tweed jacket with slim fitting pants and ankle boots. The color coordination of black and tan between them, surprises Rachel.

They get to Radio City and Rachel finds out that they are seeing Grizzly Bear tonight. She has heard of them, but she doesn't remember any songs by them. Quinn seems to be extremely excited though. She watches Quinn during the first song, she does a little dance throughout, and Rachel finds herself watching Quinn more than the stage.

During a more upbeat song, Quinn grabs Rachel's hands and dances with her as she sang along to the music. She stares at her in awe, she looks so happy, smiling widely as she enjoys the show. Rachel has never felt this close to Quinn in her life. This is reminiscent of the times they would get into glee performances, hold hands, forget everything and just dance together.

After the show is over, they walk out of the theatre hand in hand.

"That was amazing Quinn. Thank you for introducing me to them, they are a great band."

"You've never heard of Grizzly Bear?"

"I've heard of them, but I never bothered to listen. Their sound is so…"

"Hauntingly beautiful?"

"Exactly."

"I really love their sound on the albums with their subtle use of winds, but live is just so much better."

"I am definitely going to buy their new album."

"Really? Cool. Hey, are you hungry? I know I am. Do you have any favorite place to go?"

Rachel is finding herself more and more impressed by Quinn's thoughtful and kind demeanor since they've rekindled their once timid friendship. She thinks about that place near her school that has good vegetarian Korean food.

"Yes, I know a place."

Rachel and Quinn have dinner at the vegetarian Korean restaurant. They talk quietly as they eat their fill of veggie delights.

"This is really good Rachel. I thought that I'd miss the meat, but I don't."

"It is a misconception that all vegetarian food is flavorless because of the absence of any animal products. There are so many more options out here for me too. I was beginning to think that my only options were salad for a while back home."

"It's nice to see you in your element now. You deserved better than that."

"Thank you, Quinn." Rachel is at a loss for words again. She never knows how to respond when Quinn is being so nice to her. It doesn't help when she looks at her with such an earnest expression either.

They sit in silence as they continue their meals until Quinn looks up.

"Did I tell you what happened to me the other day?"

"No. What happened?"

"Nothing bad, it's a funny story actually."

Quinn regales Rachel with the story of a mishap in dance class. Who knew Quinn had such a great sense of humor? Rachel laughs heartily as Quinn goes on, she is having trouble controlling herself. She holds her stomach as her laughter subsides. Quinn is surprisingly funny.

"God, Quinn I haven't laughed like that in so long." Rachel says as they walk together back to her dorm.

"Well I'm glad my pain is your pleasure."

They finally make it into Rachel's room. She has no idea why she is nervous for Quinn to see where she stays, but she is.

"You know you're so lucky you don't have a roommate. Sometimes I just want to be alone, you know." Quinn says as she surveys Rachel's space.

"Sometimes I get lonely in here. It's nothing like my room at home."

Quinn looks at her with a small smile as she puts a hand on her shoulder. She takes a deep breath before stepping aside and walking over to take a seat on Rachel's bed.

"How in the world did you guys fit in this bed?"

"He slept on a mattress on the floor."

"Are you serious? That's hilarious." Quinn giggles.

Rachel clasps her hands in front of herself, nervously fiddling her fingers as she stands near her desk.

"So, um…" Rachel trails off, and she bites her bottom lip hard as she tries to think of something, anything to say.

"Rachel, come here and sit down."

Rachel hurries and does what Quinn says.

"What is up with you? You're acting weird all of a sudden. Is it because I'm in your room?"

"Yes. No, I mean…you're kind of making me nervous."

"Why?"

"I don't know. Maybe I'm just tired. Do you need pajamas?"

She digs out a white camisole and tights for Quinn to wear to bed. She didn't expect Quinn to do what she did, but she did it. She stripped down and changed right in front of Rachel.

Rachel tried hard not to stare, and to busy herself by changing her own clothes. She caught a few glimpses, out of curiosity, of Quinn's form. She saw firm abs, a straight back, a supple behind and pert breasts in a lacy bra.

She watches as Quinn walks back over to her bed.

"Do you want to be inside?"

Rachel's eyes go wide, she has to be hearing things.

"Excuse me?"

"Do you want to be inside near the wall, or on the outside?"

"Oh, um, outside."

"Okay."

Quinn pulls back her blankets and climbs into her bed. Rachel slides in after her, this bed is way too small for two people. She feels Quinn's front pressed hard into her back. If it were anyone else, the close proximity would be uncomfortable, but this is kind of nice. Quinn is warm, and as she breathes, Rachel can feel her breasts pressing into her back.

Rachel swallows thickly, she wonders why she even cares about Quinn's soft breasts. She tries, but she cannot stop thinking about them now. Every breath, she feels them, pressing. She wonders what they might feel like to touch, then she shakes her head, willing the thoughts away.

She has no idea what this means. Sure, she may be attracted to Quinn, but that doesn't mean she's gay, does it? She still finds men attractive, could this mean that she's bisexual? Rachel curses herself for thinking about these things while Quinn lies next to her in her bed.

She doesn't sleep a wink, and as the sunlight pours in through her window, she feels Quinn begin to stir. She carefully gets up and goes to the bathroom to do her morning routine. When she gets back, Quinn is sitting up in her bed.

"Mmm, what time is it?" Quinn asks groggily.

Rachel cannot believe this, here she is trying to figure out why she's feeling this strong attraction to Quinn, and she just wakes up looking perfect, and refreshed.

Her hair is messy in a way that looks as if it had been done on purpose. Her face is flawless without makeup. To top it all off, she runs her fingers through her hair, tilting her head back, allowing Rachel full view of her slender neck. Rachel frowns, Quinn has to be doing this on purpose.

"Don't you have your phone?" Rachel snaps.

"I-I'm sorry, I do. Um, did I do something to upset you?"

"No, I'm sorry. I- didn't get much sleep last night, that's all."

"Why? Did I snore?" Quinn asks before she raises her arms above her to stretch while she yawns.

"No," Rachel turns away so that Quinn cannot see the redness in her cheeks. She's embarrassed enough as it is. And confused as well, she doesn't know how to act around Quinn now. She fears that she may somehow read her thoughts and never want to speak to her again.

It's not like she thinks that her feelings are wrong in any way, it's just that she doesn't want what happened between her and Brody to happen to them. She values Quinn's friendship too much to let it go back down that road of not speaking to each other again.

"Then what is it?"

"It's nothing, I just had a hard time sleeping in the same bed as you."

"Oh, I'm sorry, next tim-"

"It wasn't bad, it just felt…it felt, new, different."

"Maybe I shouldn't spend the night next time?"

"I don't want that."

"Okay, then-"

"Is it okay if we don't go out today? Maybe next week? I'm kind of tired, I think I'm going to sleep in."

"Sure, I'll go then."

Rachel gets into her bed after Quinn gets up and changes back into her clothes from last night. She looks confused, like she doesn't know what she has done wrong. Rachel wants to tell her that she hasn't done anything, but she cannot bring herself to say it out loud.

Quinn leaves her alone in her room without another word. Rachel hopes that Quinn doesn't think that she's crazy for her sudden change in mood. She has to admit though, staying up all night fantasizing about touching your friend's boobs _is_ a little insane.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Thank you to everyone who is enjoying this story.

* * *

Brody continues to not speak to her, even though he isn't completely ignoring her now. He even became supportive again during class performances. She would get smiles, but nothing more. She decided that Quinn was right, she needs to continue giving him time.

She thinks about the last time she saw Quinn, she hopes that she will forgive her for being weird.

After dance class, she stays behind with Ms. July. This time, she works with her on her flexibility.

"Okay so I want you to do as I do." Cassandra tells her.

Rachel watches as Ms. July bends forward right in front of her, giving her a full view of her goods. She cannot help but stare, because everything is right there in front of her face. Every time she looks away, somehow her eyes end up back where they left.

"See something you like Rachel?"

Rachel's head snaps up and she clears her suddenly dry throat. "What?"

"I can see your reflection in the mirror. You don't have to be shy."

"I-I'm sorry. I didn't mean-"

"It's okay." Ms. July cuts in. She turns around and faces Rachel.

This is beginning to make her feel uncomfortable. She avoids eye contact with Ms. July as she crosses her arms protectively in front of herself.

"I've had many students like you Rachel. Beautiful, naïve and confused sexually, I know the type. You see a hot teacher such as myself and you start to question everything you thought you knew about sexuality."

"That's not true." Rachel says shakily. She wishes that she had more control over her nerves.

"Oh, come on. I've seen the way you look at me. Have you ever kissed a woman before?"

She is really close to Rachel now, too close. She swallows hard as she stays stuck in place.

"No,"

"Hmm, do you want to? ...Kiss a woman that is."

Rachel stammers as she tries to find the right way to word what she wants to say.

"Are you scared? You're trembling. It's only me, you have nothing to be afraid of Rachel."

Rachel doubts that. She believes that she has every right to be afraid. This woman is in a position of power over her and can do significant damage to her record if she makes the wrong move here. But she has to dissuade any advances Ms. July seems to definitely be close to making.

"M-Ms. July, I-" Rachel pulls back as Ms. July inches closer.

"Don't worry, I won't bite." She says as she cups Rachel's cheek.

"No! I-I'm sorry but I have to go." Rachel backs away until she almost trips over her own bag. She bends down and picks it up before running out of the room as quick as her legs can carry her.

She bursts into tears at the fact that she felt almost pressured into kissing her teacher. Brody was right, and so was Quinn. That was extremely unprofessional and not at all sexy.

Did this mean that she wasn't attracted to women in that way? Or was it the overall smarminess of Ms. July that turned her off completely. She needs answers and someone to talk to about this, she really wishes that she could call Quinn or even Brody, but she'll have to rely on her failsafe, Kurt.

"Then I ran out of the room. It was horrible." Rachel sighs in relief after regurgitating the story to Kurt.

"Oh my God. Are you okay? Why didn't you run sooner?"

"I don't know. I've been really confused lately. I think some part of me wanted to-to know what it felt like a little."

"What? Rachel, where is this coming from?"

"I-I think I may be bi-curious Kurt."

"Okay, I demand more information. I really don't understand."

"Well, I've been having these feelings…when I'm with Quinn-"

"_Rachel_, listen, you have an endearingly obsessive personality, sometimes to a fault. Look at what happened with you and Finn. Then you found a guy with a better voice and image than him. You latched onto Brody and let him occupy all of your time. And then he dumped you the minute you wouldn't put out and now you're getting clingy with Quinn."

"That's not-

"Even I know that Quinn is stunningly beautiful, but she isn't gay is she? Come on, you're either gay or straight, and I don't think either one of you are gay from your track records."

"Kurt! You cannot possibly tell me that you actually believe what you just said. Unlike you right now, Brody had actually given me some good advice. And the situation with Quinn is far more complicated than you're making it."

"I'm sorry but I'm only going on your past behavior in relationships. Remember what happened with you and Blaine? He ended up realizing that it was a drunken mistake and that he was only fooling himself into thinking he was straight or 'bisexual'."

"Kurt, I am not Blaine and my relationship with Quinn runs much deeper than a kiss at a party between two drunks."

"Okay, so do you think that you are a lesbian?"

"Not really, I think that if I were to say, I would say that I'm bisexual."

"And I would say, I still think that is a cop out to keep gays in the closet."

"Well I'm going to prove you wrong Kurt. I believe that I am generally attracted to both genders, sexually and emotionally."

"You said you haven't even kissed a girl. So, how do you know for sure that this isn't some fleeting feeling that'll pass the minute Brody comes back around?"

"I don't think that kissing any girls has anything to do with what I'm feeling right now."

"But it'll help you figure out if you really are into girls, right?"

"I guess so. But that's beside the point-"

"Alright, get dressed, we're going out tonight."

"What? Where?"

"Just get ready."

Rachel looks up at the signs near the front entrance of the club that she and Kurt are about to enter. There are rainbows everywhere.

"Kurt? This is a gay bar."

"Obviously."

"Don't we have to be 21 or something?"

"No, it's 18 and over."

"Oh, okay. So, what kind of guy we looking for in here? I mean, do you have a type? You usually go for dark hair, don't you?"

"Rachel, honey,"

"What?"

"We're not here for me."

"What do you mean?"

"Look around, there are a lot of women here. This is a perfect place for you to explore your sexuality, by kissing a random girl to see if you like it."

"What in the- Kurt! We are leaving if that is your intent here."

"Rachel, you told me you were confused. Although I don't believe in bisexuality, I think that if you try this out with someone you don't know, no one will get hurt that way. You don't want to experiment with Quinn and have it go badly do you?"

"No, but I…" She looks around the bar. There are many beautiful, confident women, from tomboys, to super model beauties. Rachel suddenly feels out of her element here.

"I don't know how to pick up anyone at a bar. Let alone a woman."

"That's why I'm here, to help. Just, let me find someone." He surveys the crowd from their table. "Oh, okay how about her?"

Rachel looks over at her, she is a slim brunette, just a little taller than her. She is pretty, but Rachel doesn't feel any instant attraction just yet.

"Whatever." She just wants to get this over with, she'll kiss this girl to prove to Kurt once and for all that bisexuality does in fact exist.

Kurt hops down from his seat at the table and saunters over to the unknown woman.

Rachel takes out her compact and watches them from the reflection in the mirror. She pretends to dab at her nose with the puff and then puts it away as they come over to the table.

"Hey, so Mila, this is Rachel. Rachel, Mila."

"Hello," Rachel says to her as Kurt looks between them.

"Well, I'll leave you two." He then turns and goes over to the bar and Rachel watches him as he walks away. She turns back to Mila, now sitting across from her. She suddenly becomes more nervous, now that she is alone with a woman that she _knows_ may have some interest in her.

"So, this is your first time isn't it?"

"Is it that obvious?"

"Kind of, you just look really young and nervous, so I just guessed."

"Do you come here a lot?"

"Sometimes, I like the music and I have a few friends that come here too. I usually just come here to dance. Like tonight, until your friend came over and told me that you wanted to meet me."

"He said that? I'm going to kill him."

"It's okay, if you weren't so cute I wouldn't have come over."

Rachel blushes hard, she has never felt this flattered before. She supposes it's because women don't usually flirt with her, at all.

"Thanks, um y-you're cute too." She ducks her head and stares into her cranberry juice, stirring it with her straw.

"Do you wanna go dance?"

Rachel nods and lets the woman lead her to the dance floor. They dance closely for a few songs and Rachel keeps catching Mila her looking at her lips. During the fourth or fifth dance, she decides this is it and goes for it. She leans forward and presses her lips into Mila's.

This is nice, Mila's lips are tender and purposeful. She is a very good kisser. Rachel appreciates the fact that she is going slow. Until she lightly flicks her tongue along her parted lips, and Rachel tentatively opens her mouth. The minute their tongues met, Rachel pulls away.

This is all wrong.

As much as she wanted to prove to Kurt that she was indeed bisexual, this was the wrong way to do it. That's the thing, she shouldn't have to prove anything to anyone about her own sexuality. It's her cross to bear and Kurt has no right to dictate the way she is supposed to feel.

"I'm sorry, I have to go." She says before running over, grabbing Kurt and dragging him out of the club with her.

"I cannot believe that I let you peer-pressure me into doing that!" Rachel yells as she wraps her arms around herself. She can already feel the tears threatening to escape at any moment's notice.

"It was so wrong, and not because she was a woman. I don't know her, and I know that I will never be the type of person to hook up with random people in clubs."

"Rachel, hey, don't cry. I'm sorry. I don't know what I was thinking. I was wrong to challenge you on your sexuality. I know that I would be pissed if anyone did that to me. Do you think you can you forgive me? Please?"

She narrows her eyes at him. This will take her a while to get over. Kurt is supposed to be her friend and accept her for who she is. But he couldn't put his own views aside to try and actually help her. He just wanted to prove her wrong.

"I don't know. Just take me home."

Rachel spent the entirety of the rest of the week keeping to herself and immersing herself into class. She got an A on her linguistics exam and finally finished up a paper for her writing class.

She plopped face down on her bed after a exhausting yet fulfilling day. Her phone buzzes and she turns her head to try and get a look at who's calling from her place on the bed. She tries and fails, so she gets up, but the person had already hung up. She reads the missed call list, it was Quinn.

"Hello?"

"Quinn," Rachel says softly.

"Rachel, hi, I was just calling…to see how you were. If you're busy-"

"N-no, I was just lying down and I missed your call that's all. I-I'm glad you called."

"Oh, so you're not mad at me?"

"No, Quinn why would I be mad at you?"

"I don't know, I guess that was the problem. I had no idea what I had done to make you not want to hang out with me. I spent all week thinking about it. I even called Santana and she told me not to worry, that you were always weird like that. Um, not that I think that you're weird or anything."

Rachel feels as if she is living in some sort of parallel universe or something. One where Quinn Fabray _thinks_ about her, and worries about their friendship. And then, openly admitting to doing these things, and even calling Santana. Though, the only thing normal about this conversation so far is Santana's advice to Quinn.

"Did you hear me Rachel? I don't think that you are weird… Is this why? Because I sometimes say things like that? I don't mean it, I don't think I ever did. Rachel?"

Where is all of this coming from? Rachel bites down hard on her lower lip to keep from sounding like a blubbering mess over the phone. She gently puts the phone down and grabs some tissues to dab her eyes, and she clears her throat before attempting to talk.

"Quinn, you have no idea…um, you didn't do anything wrong. That night, you showed me the best time I've had so far in New York. You are the perfect friend and I appreciate you for that. I guess I was…overwhelmed and I couldn't handle it."

"I understand, I too, sometimes feel…overwhelmed by it all. I guess I blew everything out of proportion."

"Well, it makes me happy that you care. I am really sorry for leaving you out in the cold and I promise that I'll tell you the next time I may need a break."

Rachel longs for the next time she will see Quinn. She has no intention of ever making her feel like that again. She makes a silent promise to make it up to her whenever they meet up again.

"Okay, and I'll do the same."

When Rachel hangs up the phone, she collapses back down on her bed.

"I think I'm falling in love." She says aloud to her empty dorm. "And she has no idea. She has no idea!"


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: I do not own Pretty Little Liars or any of it's characters. Any other bodies of work mentioned belong to their respective creators as well.

* * *

Things are looking up today, she got another A on a writing assignment and Brody actually talked to her at the beginning of dance class.

"Alright everyone partner up, we're going to go over the pairs choreo again."

Rachel turns to ask the guy she danced with before, but she doesn't remember his name. She smiles up at him and he puts out his hand, then someone puts their hand on her shoulder. She turns around, surprised to find Brody standing there, smiling at her.

"May I have this dance, please?" He lays out his hand with a hopeful expression on his face.

She turns to tell, she cannot remember his name, "I guess I'm dancing with Brody, sorry." He shrugs and then goes over to another girl.

They begin the dance. "You had every right to blow me off, you know."

"I didn't want to."

He spins her around and pulls her close, she can smell his cologne and it's familiar, safe.

"Can we talk? After class?" He asks.

Rachel steps back, and stumbles slightly. "Um, sure."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. What the hell was that, Berry? You better watch it, this dance counts for a major portion of your grade. I'd hate to see you work this hard just to fail."

Rachel feels her stomach sink, was that a threat? She turns back to start where they left off. She can see Ms. July watching her, scrutinizing every step.

When they finally are done for the day, everyone in class leaves, except for Rachel.

"Were you threatening me back there?"

"I did no such thing. I was just making sure that you weren't slacking off again."

"Since when have I-Does this have anything to do with what happened the other day?"

"I don't know does it?"

"I'm sorry if you're feelings were hurt when I rejected you, but-"

"You are really full of yourself, aren't you?"

"Rachel? What's going on?"

Rachel's head snaps up to see Brody standing in the doorway. He must have heard everything.

"N-nothing, I was just talking to Ms. July." Rachel throws on a fake smile, she has no idea who she is trying to appease, maybe it's herself.

"Yeah Brody, we were just about done here. So, unless you have anything to say to me, I'll be going." Ms. July gathers up her things as she eyes Rachel and brushes past Brody in the doorway on her way out.

"Are you okay?" He asks.

"I'm not sure, but I will be. You wanted to talk?" She has no idea what Ms. July's angle is.

"Rachel, I want you to know that I'm sorry for being such an idiot. I shouldn't have kissed you, but what I did after was much worse. You don't have to forgive me, I wasn't a good friend to you, but I hope that we could go back to being friends? Or, or at least friendly? I mean, I get it if you don't want to though."

"You really hurt my feelings, I thought that we were friends. I told you everything! To be honest, you were the fastest friend I have ever made. I should've known better, because you were gone even quicker."

Rachel has no idea if he is over the kiss, but the fact that he is talking to her and wants to be her friend again means a lot.

"At first I was moping around here, becoming more isolated. I really liked having a friend at this school, but I realized recently that I don't need anyone to survive. Every time I tried to talk to you, you'd just reject me. You have no idea how much that hurt, especially since you were so welcoming at first. It was like you became another person or something." She adds.

"Rachel, I'm so sorry. I'll make it up to you if you'll let me. I know that I could say that I'll go to back to the way that I was, but I think it'll be better if I show and prove it to you."

"You're right, I'm not against letting you gravel at my feet for a while until I forgive you. Make sure any food gifts are vegan."

"Yeah, I remember. Do you have any favorites?"

"Brody, I was kidding."

"Oh, so…"

"We're basically starting over, okay. That means we can hang out here at school and stuff, but I don't think it would be a good idea to start spending too much alone time together."

"Okay, cool, I agree."

"Good-" her phone rings. She checks to see who it is and it's Quinn.

"Can you excuse me, I have to take this."

"Yeah, go ahead. I was just going to go get some coffee anyway."

"Okay then, I'll see you later." Rachel says quickly as she answers on the third ring.

"Hello,"

"Hey Rachel,"

Rachel wonders if she will always feel this nervous every time she's alone with Quinn, even over the phone. "What's up?" she asks as she walks through campus.

"I wanted to ask you something."

"What is it?"

"Well, tomorrow I'm coming to the city to audition for a part in a show and I was wondering if you wanted to tag along?"

Quinn never fails to leave Rachel speechless, but more recently she has been unbelievably thoughtful and considerate of her. She sometimes feels as if she's dreaming this, imagining herself in a world where someone like Quinn truly wants what's best for her.

"Um, you-you're not afraid that I'll show you up?" Rachel teases.

"No, I've come to the conclusion that it's inevitable, but that doesn't mean that I won't try my hardest."

Rachel blushes. "You're really good Quinn, you have just as good a chance as I do…um, I have no idea what this is for."

"Oh, it's an open audition for an off-Broadway production of Fiddler on the Roof. I already knew that you'd hate me for not inviting you along, so…"

Rachel's mind is reeling, she knows every song, and she was even in a community production of it when she was twelve.

"Oh Quinn! This is absolutely amazing! And I could never hate you, I may have been a little upset with you, but it doesn't matter because you did invite me. I'm probably going to need this as something to fall back on when I fail out of college."

"Wait a minute, you're failing?"

"No, not exactly, but I'm expecting to fail dance this semester."

"Why, what happened?"

"Remember that thing with my dance teacher? Well, she tried to kiss me."

"What?"

"But she didn't get a chance to though, I ran out of there as fast I could carry myself."

"Oh, that's…good."

"I had thought that everything would be awkward at best in class, but today she sort of threatened to fail me. I think that Brody overheard it."

"Oh my God, Rachel! You have to report her!"

"But she may get fired. Sure she's being inappropriate, but she never really touched me."

"Look, if she were a man, would you be letting him off the hook for this?"

Rachel pauses. She probably would have reported a male teacher for yelling at her during class. God knows how many times she's done it to Mr. Schue. Maybe she has been letting her attraction to Ms. July cloud her judgment in this situation.

"Rachel, I've been learning about this in my Women's Studies class. Women can also commit sexual harassment and assault. If you're afraid, maybe make an anonymous complaint, that way she'll at least be called in for a meeting with the dean."

"Quinn, that's a great idea. Thank you. You don't know how much help you've been through all this, I-you're a great friend." Whoa. Did she almost slip and say what she thinks she was about to say? Rachel frowns. She has to get a grip on her feelings for their friendship's sake.

"You're a good friend too Rachel. That's why you're going to let me stay over tonight, we'll get up tomorrow and go to the audition together. Is that okay?"

There goes her heart rate. Rachel feels blindsided, she had already felt enough pressure thinking she would be seeing Quinn tomorrow.

"Uh-huh." She swallows thickly, this is going to be another long night.

Rachel lies in bed listening to her iPod, she has been listening to _Shields_ non-stop ever since she downloaded it. She has to remember to thank Quinn for introducing her to such a great band. There's a knock on her door, she may be able to do that sooner than she thought.

"Hey!" She screams as she envelops Quinn in a big hug as she grins ear to ear.

"Hi, you're in a good mood." Quinn chuckles.

"I'm just so happy you're here again!"

"Well, I'm happy to be here as well." Quinn says as she tucks her hair behind her ear. "Oh, I brought some snacks, here."

Rachel accepts the bag and she takes a look inside. "Thank you, Quinn. That was very thoughtful of you."

"No problem, everything's vegan. There's some hummus with cut up vegetables, some fruit, I remembered that you have a microwave so there's popcorn too."

"Oh, I love hummus. This looks delicious." Rachel takes everything out of the bag and sets them on her table. She folds up Quinn's bag and places it right next to the other items.

"So, do you have anything that you want to do? Maybe watch a movie?"

A movie does sound like a great way to take up some time to distract her from thinking about Quinn too much. Rachel is not very good at keeping her feelings to herself and if she has enough time to think about them, they may explode all over the place.

"Yes, that's sounds good. I have some movies saved on my laptop, some TV shows as well."

"What shows? Oh, you know what? We could look through them, but first, I need to go to the bathroom. I think I still remember where it is."

"Yeah, it's right down the hall."

"Okay, I'll be right back."

Rachel takes a deep breath after Quinn leaves, she cannot help how wound up she feels in her presence. She doubts it will ever go away. She takes a seat at the edge of her bed to try to relax a little. She jumps a little when there is a sudden knock at the door.

"It's open." She tells Quinn. Except the person isn't Quinn that pops their head into the door. She almost jumps out of her skin. It's Brody.

"Hey, um, were you expecting someone?"

"My friend, I thought you were her. You kind of scared the crap out of me."

"Sorry, I just wanted to bring you this." He reaches into a white paper bag and pulls out a pint of ice cream.

"Ice cream?"

"Yeah, it's vegan mocha chip. I wanted to make good on my promise to be a better friend again."

"I was just kidding about all that. You don't have to buy back my friendship, just you being there for me would be enough. Thanks though." She tells him, accepting the pint. She puts it in her mini-freezer and returns to the door.

"So, do you want to come in, or?"

"Oh, no, I don't want to impose, I'll ju-" He suddenly stops talking and looks sharply to his right.

Rachel pokes her head out to see what he sees, Quinn walking towards the door. They both stand there staring at her like idiots.

"Hi," Quinn says, looking nervously between them.

Rachel finally snaps out of her trance. "Hey, Quinn this is Brody. Um, Brody this is my, friend, Quinn." She stammers.

"Hello, nice to meet you." He says, sticking out a hand.

"Nice to meet you too, I've…heard a lot about you." Quinn says, shaking his hand. Rachel notices that she looks him directly in the eye, as if she's sizing him up. Brody just looks mesmerized.

The notion of Quinn being protective over her is appealing, even if her intentions aren't exactly what Rachel hopes them to be. She's just being a good friend, making sure that he is a nice enough guy to be trusted.

"Well, I guess I'd better go, leave you two ladies to enjoy the rest of the night. Talk to you later, Rachel." He waves before walking off.

Rachel lets Quinn back into her dorm and shuts the door, locking it this time.

"So…that was Brody." Quinn says dryly.

"Yes. What did you think?" Rachel really wants to hear this.

"He seems nice."

"Is that all? I saw the way that you were looking at him, what do you really think?"

"You're sure you don't like him like that?"

Rachel nods.

"Well, I think he still likes you. But truthfully, even though he is a step up from Finn, I think that you could do better."

Rachel bursts out laughing, the fact that Quinn seriously thought about this is hilarious. She knows that she could do better, but sometimes the most perfect person is so out of reach that you have to lower your standards for a while. Until that person realizes that, you deserve them as much as they deserve you.

"Thank you for your honest opinion Quinn. I knew that I could count on it."

"I didn't mean any offense to him personally, I just think that you are right in wanting only friendship with him. You should probably stay single for a while, anyway. I did all senior year and I was able to concentrate on school, maintain my GPA, and then I got into an Ivy league university."

"Wow, so modest Quinn." Rachel mocks.

"I'm just saying, you said it yourself that you have been doing better in school."

"You're right. I guess I'll have to tell my many suitors to hold off until graduation then." Rachel jokes.

"Rachel, I bet more people around you like you more than you think. You just don't know it because they aren't running around shoving their tongue down your throat."

They both burst out laughing, Rachel loves hearing Quinn's little giggle. She watches as Quinn holds her belly as she wipes at her eyes. She's still pretty with a red face and tears coming from her eyes as she laughs heartily. They don't even know why they're laughing anymore.

"Ah, I needed that. Now, how about we search for something to watch?"

"Okay, let me get my laptop." Rachel picks up her laptop from her desk and walks it over to her bed. She and Quinn sit side by side at the edge as she shows her the video files on her computer.

Rachel leaves Quinn with the laptop while she goes to pop a bag of popcorn. While she waits, she gets a carrot stick and scoops up some of the hummus before stuffing it into her mouth. It is absolutely delicious, she looks at the container, it's from her favorite brand.

"I don't have a TV, so I have no idea what most of this stuff is." Quinn says as she frowns at the screen of the laptop.

Rachel thinks about this, maybe she could use it to her advantage. She could show Quinn a show or movie with a lesbian love scene in it. Then she could watch to see her reaction. But what if it works? Just because Quinn may possibly be interested in something on TV, doesn't mean that she would ever act on her feelings with Rachel. They're just friends after all.

"Have you ever heard of this show? It's called Pretty Little Liars." Rachel decided to give it a shot. She explains the plot to Quinn and she agrees to marathon a few episodes with her.

Rachel sneaks a few peeks at Quinn periodically throughout the episodes, especially when something gay happens. Quinn must have an excellent poker face or she just isn't affected by what's on the screen. It's a tiny bit disappointing because Rachel was prepared to maybe have a vague conversation about Emily's issues with her sexuality. Maybe it'll come up later.

"What is it?" Quinn asks, her eyes are still glued to the screen that's balanced between them. She reaches into the bowl for more popcorn.

"What?"

"You've been staring at me. It's kind of distracting." Quinn states around a mouthful of popcorn.

"I-um, I was just trying to see if you were enjoying it so far."

"It's…entertaining, a bit ridiculous though."

"I like it because it-it's playful, and insane at the same time. They're also treating Emily's storyline with respect." Rachel says quietly, since they are in the middle of an episode.

"Which one's Emily?" Quinn asks.

Here's her chance.

"The lesbian." Rachel whispers, completely facing Quinn now.

"Oh," is all that Quinn breathes out as she nods slightly.

Rachel turns back to the screen, Quinn definitely isn't bothered by it. She just seems to be enjoying the show for what it is, which is normal for anyone to do, regardless of sexuality.

After going through most of the snacks that Quinn brought, they share the pint of ice cream that Brody brought. They go to bed a little while later, in order to wake up early enough to have time to get ready to go to the audition.

Rachel wakes up well rested, she was relaxed enough to sleep last night, thankfully. They slept in the same position as before, this time Rachel was far more comfortable than she was before.

"Morning," Quinn murmurs.

"Morning, Quinn." Rachel pulls back the blanket and slips out of bed. Quinn follows after.

They both go to the co-ed bathroom to get ready at the same time. There are many other people using the facilities and it is a little crowded.

They take the train to the theatre where the auditions are being held. There are many other girls in the wait area.

A woman comes out at the time that the auditions are to start and hands out a form for everyone to fill out. She comes back around and gathers the papers, ten minutes later, the first girl is called in.

Rachel finds it weird that almost every other girl has been called, beside her and Quinn. It's been over an hour and a half already. Their names aren't in alphabetical order, unless they're going by first names. But then they should have been called before that girl named Tamara. She hasn't been to many auditions, but this just feels odd. Even Quinn looks nervous.

"Well, if it isn't Lucy and Ethel!" A man with a booming voice calls out from a darkened hallway.

* * *

A/N 2: It's obvious who that is, right? Lol, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. Thank you for reviewing and following this story.


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: Some of you may be surprised by some of the events in this chapter, and some of you not so much. Thanks for reading!

* * *

Rachel's head snaps up, "It can't be." She whispers.

He walks out of the darkened corridor.

"Jesse St. James?" Rachel calls out. She stands up and goes over to him, and he wraps his arms around her.

"Rachel, how are you?" He says smiling down at her. "Quinn, get over here." He waves her over.

Quinn cracks a smile as she gets up and walks over to them, and he wraps her up as well.

"Wow, Quinn, you look absolutely breathtaking." Jesse says as he gives her a once over.

"Thank you," Quinn says bashfully.

Jesse continues to stare at her a little too long for Rachel's liking.

Rachel clears her throat slightly, in order to break his unnecessary concentration on Quinn's beauty. She isn't jealous or anything, she just feels that it's sort of rude of him to fawn over her looks, when that's just the icing on the cake when it comes to Quinn.

"And you look good as well, Rachel. So, what brings you two beauties into my place of work?"

"Wait, you work here?"

"Yes, I'm one of the vocal coaches and I play the part of Motel as well."

"Oh my God, Jesse! You are really making it out here!" Rachel is happy that he is having success after all of his hard work.

"Thanks. Hey, you want to get out of here? We're done for the day,"

"But what about our auditions?" Quinn asks.

"Don't worry, I brought your papers to the casting director and I told him that I knew you two. He's going to cast you based on your resumes."

"That's it?"

"Yeah,"

"Thank you Jesse." They both squeal as they give him another more crushing hug this time. He giggles as they almost knock him over with their tandem hug, then he leads them to a sandwich shop across the street.

They order their lunches, and then sit at a table together, to do some catching up.

"You know, I'm not surprised to see you here Rachel. I always knew you had it in you to make it out here. And I'm glad you're working towards your dreams instead of becoming some corpse's bride. You're not with Finn anymore are you?"

Rachel shakes her head, she glances to the side and sees Quinn trying to stifle a giggle behind her hand. She starts to feel warm, she's too embarrassed now to tell him that she did in fact marry Finn. She hopes Quinn doesn't say anything and she looks over to see an apologetic expression on Quinn's face. She gives her a small smile to let her know that she isn't mad at her for laughing.

"Good, you should be single for a while out here. And you," He turns to Quinn.

"Excuse me, I have to go to the ladies room. I'll be right back." Rachel stands up and steps away from the table.

"Are you okay? Do you want me to come with you?" Quinn asks.

"No, I'm fine. Carry on." She says before rushing to the nearest bathroom.

She washes her face repeatedly to cool it down and wash away her running eye make-up. She couldn't help the light tears at the fact that she was being laughed at because of her poor decision making in the past. She knows that Jesse and Quinn weren't being cold-hearted and it was meant as a compliment to her, but it still hurts when someone talks about Finn. She chose to be with him, and if he was such a joke, what does that make her?

She returns to the table with a fresh face of make-up, to a grinning Jesse and a blushing Quinn. She watches as Quinn takes a sip of her drink upon her arrival.

"So, what did I miss?" Rachel asks, looking between them.

"Well, I was just asking Quinn-" Jesse begins.

"We were just making small talk, that's all." Quinn interrupts, giving him a tight smile.

He raises his eyebrows at her, "Yeah, and I was just waiting for your return before I go. It has been lovely catching up with the two of you, and I cannot wait until we begin working together."

His eyes lock onto Quinn again, much like earlier. This time Quinn cannot even look at him. What in the hell happened when she went to the bathroom?

Jesse waves at them both before heading out.

"What was all that about?" Rachel tries as hard as she can to sound as casual as possible.

Quinn takes a deep breath, "Uh, I'll tell you later. First, let's get back to your room. Maybe we could continue our little marathon?"

Rachel frowns as she collects her trash and dumps it harshly into the bin. She would like to know what's going on right now, but she cannot let herself get angry without seeming jealous. So she calms down for the journey home.

They are near her building, but Rachel feels as if she is in a cloud suspicion, anger and jealousy. She doesn't even realize that Quinn had been talking to her this whole time.

"Rachel?"

"Huh?"

"Are you okay?" Quinn places a hand on the small of her back, and Rachel almost melts into a puddle on the spot.

"Yeah, um, I'm fine. I just," She trails off, she has no idea what she was going to say, now that Quinn is touching her.

"Hey," Quinn presses harder.

Rachel turns to face her despite her reddened cheeks. "Yes?" She squeaks.

"You're doing it again, don't-don't shut me out again, Rachel. I told you that I'll tell you, and I will. I just wanted us to be alone when I did it."

"I'm sorry, okay. I get it now. I just didn't know what to think, you know." She stands there, looking at Quinn. Then she remembers that Quinn's hand is somewhere near her hip now, and she feels a little light-headed. Just as she begins to allow her eyes to close, the hand is gone.

"Well, aren't you going to open your door?" Quinn giggles as she puts her hands on her hips.

"Oh, yes. We are here, aren't we? I was just caught up in…yeah." She turns and quickly unlocks the door and flicks on the light switch. She removes her coat as Quinn does before making her way to her bed.

Quinn takes a seat on the edge and Rachel finds that she looks a bit uneasy.

"So, what was it? You two were having a laugh about me dating Finn, weren't you?"

"What? No, but if you're going to be making accusations like that, I'm not going to tell you anything."

Rachel deflates, she doesn't even know why she said that. She guesses her insecurities about her past with Finn is getting the better of her today, but none of that is Quinn's fault.

"I'm really sorry Quinn, I don't know what made me say that."

"I don't know why you said it either, but I assure you it had nothing to do with you. He, sort of asked me out."

Rachel's jaw drops, she had a feeling things were even worse than she thought. She was expecting a little flirting, but an actual date?

"What?"

"Yeah, see? I told him that I'd have to run it by you first. You obviously still have some feelings-"

"No!" Rachel yells, she definitely doesn't have any feelings for Jesse anymore and she wants to make that clear to Quinn. But she can't let Quinn in on the fact that her feelings against them going out are because she has feelings for her.

"I mean um, no, I don't Quinn."

Quinn narrows her eyes, "So, you wouldn't mind if we went out? I'm not trying to date him or anything, just a thank you dinner for helping to cast me in the show."

"Are you sure that's what he thinks? I saw the way that he was looking at you." She did, because it's the same look she has when she looks at Quinn.

Quinn looks down at her hands in her lap as Rachel rocks in her desk chair.

"So, you do have a problem." Quinn says as she turns her head to look over at Rachel.

"N-No," She hates that Quinn's scrutinizing stare causes her to stutter so often.

"I'll tell him no, if it's going to make things awkward between us."

Rachel decides to suck it up, this isn't the right way to tell someone that you want to be with them. She'll probably think it's just a lie to keep her away from Jesse. It just hurts to know that this date is going to happen if she doesn't act selfishly and tell Quinn not to go. The jealousy boiling in her blood right now at the thought of him touching Quinn in any way makes her want to throw something.

"No, you know what, Quinn? You're a single woman, if you want to go out with someone, you don't have to ask my permission."

"But I do if it's my good friend's ex that I'm going out with."

Her _good friend's ex_, that stings. "Okay, I can't say that I'm 100% happy with it. But like I said, you're single and free to do what you want." Rachel says sternly.

"Yeah, and so are you. Maybe you should try to go out and spread your wings a little. The only action you've seen since Finn was an unwanted kiss so…"

"Actually, that's not true," This is it, she's going to tell Quinn about the girl at that club. Well, maybe not exactly, she is definitely going to have to hold back some information to avoid outing herself this way.

"There was someone else, a person that I met when I went out with Kurt one night."

"Really?"

"Yeah, they were really sweet and we danced, and then one thing led to another…"

"Oh my God, you had a one night stand!"

"What? No, we only kissed, but then I ran away."

"Why?"

_Why? Because I'm in love with you and you're the only one that I want to kiss, especially right now._

"Oh um, it just…didn't feel right. The kiss itself felt good, but there were no emotions behind it, it felt empty."

"You want to be in love the next time you kiss someone. I know the feeling…_oh God_. This is still embarrassing, but I kind of did the same thing recently."

"You did?" Rachel doesn't know how to feel about that.

"Yeah, but it was way worse than your story. I made a mistake and finally went to one of those stupid parties everyone keeps inviting me to. Well, long story short, I got wasted, and ended up making out with Rich. You remember him right?"

Rachel nods, she cannot believe this. That bearded bum got to kiss Quinn. She doesn't even have to know the guy, to know that he didn't deserve it.

"Okay, so I have no idea why I was even kissing him. He probably initiated it, but the joke was on him, literally, because a few seconds in, I pulled back and threw up all over him. I was so embarrassed, I just ran home."

"Oh my God, Quinn. That sounds horrible." Rachel feels happy that that Rich guy got what he deserved.

"It was, and that is why I haven't had a drink since. I'm also not going to anymore parties this year."

They both laugh a little at Quinn's mortifying experience, then Quinn turns to her with her head resting on her hand.

"So, now that I've finally told you that story, can we still watch something? I'm not in the mood to go back to my boring abode just yet. Plus, I like it better here…for some reason." Then she shrugs.

"Wha-" Rachel looks up to catch Quinn snickering behind her hand again.

She launches herself out of her chair and pounces on top of Quinn. Quinn bursts out in full laughter when she begins tickling her.

"You're terrible, Quinn. You can pretend all you want, but I know you like spending time with me."

She leans in, Quinn's eyes are screwed shut as she squirms under Rachel's dexterous fingers. She looks so happy in her fit of laughter that's like music to Rachel's ears. She wonders what she would do if she kissed her right now.

She'd probably knee her in the stomach or something and leave. So Rachel decides not to risk it, and stops her motions, removing her hands. She pulls back to allow Quinn to sit upright again as her laughter dies down. She's still holding her sides and she looks over at Rachel with one of her expressions that confuse Rachel to no end.

"So, are we watching anything or not?" Quinn asks as she dabs at her eyes.

"Yes." Rachel reaches for her laptop.

They watch a few episodes of Parks and Recreation instead of Pretty Little Liars. They decided to hold off until next weekend, when Quinn will be staying over, because Rachel is scared to be left alone after watching it.

Quinn leaves after watching a few episodes at around seven o'clock. After she leaves, Rachel has to call Kurt to tell him the news.

"Kurt! Guess who just got a part in Fiddler on the Roof!"

"No way!"

"Yes! Quinn invited me to go audition with her and we both got parts in the play, but we don't know which ones yet, and it's all because of Jesse, who I'm kind of mad at right now."

"Whoa, that was a lot of information at once. So, you and Quinn go to the audition,"

"Yes,"

"You both got parts, but you don't know which ones yet."

"Uh huh,"

"And this is because of Jesse, as in Jesse St. James?"

"Correct."

"And you are kind of mad at him right now, why?"

"Oh, because he asked Quinn out on a date, that's why."

"Okay, well, congratulations, and I'm sorry?"

"Thanks, it's just so complicated Kurt. I am in love with her, but I don't want to scare her away."

"How do you know that? How can you be so sure that she'll run? She's friends with Santana, just tell her about the part where you're bisexual, to see how she'll react."

"Yeah, I've thought of that, but a part of me is afraid that she will be supportive, as long as the object of my affections is anyone besides her."

"Maybe you need to do something, nothing grand, but something that would capture her attention if she were attracted to you."

"Like what?" Rachel asks.

They meet up outside of Saks Fifth Avenue and Kurt gives her a look before nodding.

"Okay, yes, I stand by what I said on the phone, you need to upgrade your look. Just change things up to give yourself a sexier edge while keeping your signature Rachel essence. That means, losing the knee-highs sometimes to allow her a look at those legs."

Rachel nods as he leads her into the shop, immediately throwing items across her arms to be tried on.

She goes to class the next day in one of her new outfits, just to test the waters. By the time dance class rolls around, she had gotten quite a few double-takes.

Brody comes up to her at the beginning of class, "Rachel, you look incredible. What's the special occasion?"

"What? Can't a girl dress up without having anywhere to go?"

"Yes she can." He nods.

"Well, I am sort of celebrating. My friend and I got roles in an off-Broadway production of Fiddler on the Roof."

"What? That's great!" He holds up a hand for a high-five before grabbing her into a hug.

As he lets her down, she catches Ms. July looking at them. She casts her eyes up and down Rachel's body, lingering on her legs and then back up to her face.

Rachel considers this change up a success after two people after her affections obviously took notice. Now if Quinn's reaction is anywhere near their reactions, she doesn't know what she will do.

Brody walks her out after class, "Hey, let me take you out."

"I'm not sure that's such a good idea. I mean, I don't want to give you the wrong idea."

"Oh, no, I've been meaning to talk to you, now that we're friends again. There's just been so much going on, I wanted to talk to you the other day, but your friend was there."

"Okay, in that case, you can take me out for a celebratory early dinner."

They get to the restaurant, an Asian fusion place with vegan options. Brody pulls out her chair for her before taking the seat across from her. The waiter takes their orders after pouring them some water, leaving them to talk.

"So, this is a lot less awkward than I had expected. I had grown so used to eating with you, and it's turning out to be easy slipping back into our routine."

"Yeah, it is. You've always been easy to talk to and I am really sorry about closing down on you."

"Hey, it's over now. You said you wanted to tell me something?"

"Well, it's sort of about the whole reason I kissed you."

Rachel can feel her eyes go wide, she hopes he isn't going to tell her he's in love with her and give her some sort of ultimatum that is just going to break his heart. She takes a long sip of water.

"Remember that day in the quad? You had just broken up and we were talking and then you introduced me to your friend."

"Yeah, I remember, but what does that have to do with you kissing me?"

"I want to have everything out in the open and I hope you don't hate me for this, but…I was trying to prove to myself that I was still attracted to women."

"Wait a minute? Still?"

"Things have been confusing for me, ever since that day I saw him."

"You were…attracted to him?"

Brody nods.

"Oh my God," She breathes out. It all makes sense now, the kiss out of nowhere, the avoidance.

"You're angry?" He asks nervously.

"No, I just can't believe I didn't figure this out on my own."

"You probably would have, that's why I couldn't even look at you, let alone speak to you. I felt like I was just using you, but I really wasn't. I did like you, I still do, and that kiss was spectacular. But I know that you just want to remain friends, so…"

"And that's still true, because I too have been going through a similar struggle myself."

"Really? How?"

"Lately, I had been noticing my attractions towards women, and you know my friend Quinn?"

Brody nods along, completely entranced with Rachel's retelling of everything that has been going on as she struggles with her sexuality. They continue telling each other stories about what they have been dealing with and bonding over the fact that they both are leaning towards bisexuality if they were to choose a label.

Rachel goes home knowing that she and Brody are even better friends now, than they were before.


	7. Chapter 7

Rachel stands in the hall looking over her printout and fuming. She cannot believe this.

"Hey,"

"Oh, hi, Brody." Rachel says morosely.

"What's got you down today? You look beautiful, as always." He smiles at her but she is not feeling very chipper right now.

"Thanks, I'm not down, I just got my grades. Ms. July gave me a D." She pushes the paper into his face before turning to walk back to her dorm.

He follows closely behind while looking it over. "Aw, man, that sucks. At least you didn't fail right?" He tries smiling again as he hands it back to her.

"Brody, my GPA is significant lower now. How is that a good thing?"

"Oh, I guess if that's important to you, then it is bad. Well, do you want to go get something to eat to take your mind off of it?"

"Yes, I was on my way to get something before rehearsal anyway."

"Cool, where do you wanna go?"

They go to some diner to get some food. Rachel tells Brody about her role in Fiddler as she eats her fries.

"So I got the role of Tzeitel and Quinn got the role of a Russian dancer and she gets to sing in the group songs."

"Wow, you got a pretty big role for a first timer."

"Well, I did have a connection. One of my exes works on the show, he plays Motel."

"That explains it. Not to say you aren't talented enough to land something like that, it's just, you know, lack of experience."

"Yeah I know, but as happy as I am about it, it just kind of feels bittersweet."

"Why's that?"

"My ex, he asked Quinn out."

"What? Like on a date?"

"Yeah, and then she asked me if I had a problem with it and I told her no, but,"

"You do?"

"Yes, because I am in love with her."

"Wow, you didn't tell me all that. So, why don't you make a move?"

"I can't just do something stupid and kiss her, or something."

"Oh, okay, yeah, I see how that would be a stupid friendship jeopardizing thing to do." Brody laughs.

Rachel laughs too, she's glad that their kiss didn't completely ruin everything between them.

"So, are you just waiting until she makes a move, or?"

"Maybe, I don't know what to do honestly."

"What if she's just as scared as you are? Have you tried to see if she was even interested in maybe dating another girl?"

"I tried to get her to watch Pretty Little Liars with me. Although that may not have been the best course of action, seeing as Quinn isn't really that into television."

"Ha-ha, what? You should, I don't know, try to throw some subtle hints her way."

"Well, this outfit today is supposed to do just that. I want to gauge her reactions to seeing me all dressed up." Rachel really hopes Quinn takes notice of her changes.

"God, this would be so much easier if I were a boy," she breathes out in frustration as she runs a hand through her hair.

"Hey, not so fast there, sure it'd be easy for me to ask out a girl. But asking out a guy is presenting a similar problem for me, like how do you know, you know?"

"Hey, my friend Kurt is single."

"He is?"

"Yeah, but he does know about the whole kiss thing."

"Damn," He looks down disappointingly.

"I-I could talk to him if you want."

"Mmm, I don't know, things would be weird."

"Okay, I won't say anything unless you want me to." Rachel talks with Brody about what he has been up to all week for a little while before she has to go.

She leaves the diner to get to the theater for rehearsal, she knows this play like the back of her hand, but she wants to see Quinn. She hasn't spoken to Quinn since their talk about her going out with Jesse. She wonders if she actually went through with that date with him.

When she walks into the theater, the scene of Jesse and Quinn in the hallway causes her to stop in her tracks momentarily. He has his arm up on the wall and he's leaning closely towards her as they talk quietly. They look intimate. Rachel shudders mildly as she approaches them, she wishes she knew another way to get backstage because she would definitely go that way instead.

Quinn rips her eyes away from him when she sees Rachel approaching. "Hey Rachel," she says, looking her from top to bottom.

"Hello Quinn, Jesse," Rachel knows she should be checking Quinn's reaction to her outfit, but she cannot shake the image of them together from her mind.

"Why, don't you look gorgeous today, Rachel. Hot date after rehearsal?" He asks, also giving her a once over.

"No, Jesse. I just felt like spicing things up today that's all. So what are you guys up to?" Rachel shoots a look of suspicion towards Quinn. She tries gauging her reaction, she looks guilty like that day at the sandwich shop. Of what exactly, Rachel really doesn't want to find out.

"We were just talking about the show I took her to this past Wednesday. We saw Once, it was absolutely breathtaking. Right Quinn?"

"Yeah, it was. A very beautiful love story." Quinn looks nervous, and Rachel frowns at her.

Jesse looks back and forth between them, "Hey, I guess I'll leave you two to talk, rehearsal starts soon anyway."

Quinn nods, she doesn't look away from Rachel once.

"You look nice today, was Jesse right, do you really have a date after?" She giggles. "You can tell me, Rachel,"

"No Quinn, I already said I don't have a date. I'm not dating anyone okay, would you just drop it?" Rachel crosses her arms, she cannot believe Quinn is doing this.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to upset you, I just thought,"

"What? That I was like you, jumping at the chance to date anyone who asks?"

Quinn looks appalled. Rachel is instantly sorry that she lashed out at her over this whole Jesse situation. It is really getting in the way of their friendship, as she feared.

"Quinn, I-"

"No! Do not tell me you're sorry, you don't mean it. You really think that don't you?"

Rachel doesn't really believe that. She saw how Quinn ignored the advances of that guy at her school, and she knows that she wasn't dating anyone until Jesse asked.

"I can't believe you, Rachel. I thought that we were..." She turns and runs off.

"Quinn! Wait!" Rachel doesn't know where she ran off to, but she knows she wouldn't just leave. She walks down to a room at the end of the hall and she finds Jesse in there instead.

"Hey, ready to get started? Let's practice the Miracle of Miracles scene." He tries to take her hand, but she snatches it away.

"No Jesse, I know my lines already, I'm just looking for Quinn. Did you see her go by?"

"No, why?"

"I just said something stupid and I want to apologize to her."

"What did you say?"

"It…was personal." She says looking down.

"Fair enough. So…you and Quinn, you've become closer to her?" He asks.

Rachel nods. She wonders where he's going with this.

"I hope this isn't awkward, but can you tell me what she likes? I want to take her out again, but I want her to enjoy herself. It was very odd going out and getting snubbed for a kiss goodnight."

"You tried to kiss her on the first date? You're lucky she didn't slap you."

Rachel feels even worse about what she said to Quinn. She wishes she could rewind time and just invite Quinn over so they could talk about how bad her date with Jesse actually was.

"My technique usually works, I was charming, humorous and gallant, what more could she want?"

Rachel smiles as she shakes her head. If she knew exactly what Quinn wanted, they wouldn't be having this conversation. She tells him that she can't help him with that before going back out to search for Quinn.

She takes a chance going out a backdoor and finds her outside smoking a cigarette.

"Since when are you smoking again?" Rachel asks, and Quinn turns sharply to face her. She takes one more puff before tossing the cigarette to the ground and stomping it out.

She blows the smoke in the opposite direction of Rachel. "I'm not, well, technically I am right now, but I gave up smoking last year."

"Oh," Rachel swallows, she turns away to avoid the smell that is still lingering in the air.

"You said you were over him, why are you being like this?" Quinn asks.

"I am. Look, I admit that I was taking out my anger on you today. I want to apologize because I don't think that about you, I got my grades today and my dance teacher gave me a D. That's why I was upset, it had nothing to do with you or Jesse." This is only a half lie, so she doesn't feel that bad by using it as an excuse.

Quinn seems to be contemplating what Rachel just told her. "Did you do that anonymous report like I told you?" she asks.

Rachel looks away, she feels ashamed for not listening to Quinn's advice and putting off the report. "No," she replies meekly.

"Rachel, doing that report would have sent her a message to watch herself. Maybe you would have gotten a better grade. I thought we went over this, my advice is always best." She gives Rachel one of her brightest smiles and Rachel cannot help but return it.

She is glad Quinn understands her enough to try to lighten the mood even though she should still be angry with her for what she said.

"Hey, do you want to come over?"

"I can't, I'm getting a visitor today. I actually need to be on my way to the station right now if I want to make the train."

"Okay, um, I guess I'll talk to you later then?"

"Yeah," Quinn stares down at her for a second before reaching out and grazing her fingertips along the fabric covering her abdomen.

Rachel takes a sharp intake of air as Quinn allows her hand to linger.

"I really like this top on you, maybe I could borrow it sometime?" She looks up and they lock eyes.

Rachel tries to think of a response but her mind is swimming right now. "Oh, um, ye-yeah, sure. Thank you." She lets out a nervous giggle at the end. Her heart is beating out of her chest, she is so embarrassed of herself.

Quinn laughs a little as well before telling Rachel goodbye and departing for the station to catch a train back to New Haven. Rachel wonders who her visitor may be and if she knows them.

Rachel gets back to her room and calls Kurt to tell him what happened.

"So how long did the hand linger?"

"I don't know, a few seconds,"

"Hmm, she could have really been admiring the fabric. I have to give it her if it turns out she does like you, she is an enigma that one."

"I'm inclined to agree with you 100% on that fact. I really wanted to know how she felt about the date with Jesse, but she had to go meet up with her mystery guest."

"Wow, so much drama, I am really starting to love Quinn. She brings so much to the table as far as excitement and spontaneity."

"That's part of the reason I fell for her as well. You better watch it Kurt, you might be developing a crush on someone of the opposite sex."

"I would never!" He counters with false contempt.

Rachel laughs as her cell phone goes off, meaning that she is receiving a text while she is talking. She tells Kurt to hold on as she looks at it. It's from Quinn:

"Rachel I'm with Santana, she wants to come to city. I'll call you when we get there. Do you want to go out with us?" -Quinn

Rachel doesn't know how to reply, she so excited. "Um, Kurt, I'll call you back." She hangs up with him and then types a quick reply to Quinn.

"Sure, I haven't seen Santana in forever." –Rachel

She hops off her bed and runs to her closet, tonight she is going to get the attention of at least Santana. If Quinn seems jealous, she will have her answer. But then what will she do?

She shakes herself out of thinking too hard about that. She can figure it out as things go along.

Rachel pulls out a snug-fitting black dress that Kurt helped her pick out. She pairs it with the pair of black pumps that she had been saving to wear for a special occasion. Luckily, it has been warmer lately and she can go out with a light jacket on.

Quinn calls her and tells her where to meet them. They are going to have dinner before going out on the town. Rachel takes a taxi because she can barely walk in her heels. Normally she would find shoes like this impractical, but she wants to impress Quinn tonight.

She sees them standing on the street in Times Square. They don't see her approaching so she calls out to them.

"Quinn, hey!"

They both turn around, Santana's eyes look as if they were about to pop out of her head. Quinn gives her smile as a look of surprise comes over her face. Rachel blushes at the reaction from them.

"Damn Berry, you are looking sexy as hell. New York is so working for you." Santana continues to openly ogle her.

"Yeah, you look very pretty Rachel." Quinn says sweetly.

The contrast of their reactions fit with both of their personalities. Quinn was always demure and Santana has always been very bold.

"Oh, thank you both. It's nice to see you Santana."

"Well come here, give me a hug." Santana pulls her into a tight hug. She looks over at Quinn who stands there uncomfortably.

When they pull apart, Quinn turns away. "So, there are a bunch of places to eat. Where do you guys want to go?" She asks.

"All I know is I'm starving. I'll eat anywhere you take me." Santana says.

"Um there is a vegetarian place right down there." Rachel points out.

"Okay, let's go there." Quinn says, shooting Santana a look.

They order their food and sit together at a small table inside the casual restaurant.

"So he just left you and then he went to the Army? Wow, I can't say I'm surprised."

Rachel doesn't want to even talk about Finn right now. She just wants to continue to enjoy herself with them tonight.

Quinn nudges Santana's arm receiving a frown in return. She raises her eyebrows and Santana turns back to Rachel.

"Hey, I was only asking because my girl Quinn and I have gotten way closer since graduation and we had been talking about you one day. I asked what happened to Finn and she had no clue, why didn't you just tell her after he left?"

"Um, uh, well, I don't know. We talk about so many other things whenever we see each other. He just, never came up guess?"

Santana narrows her eyes, "Hmm, interesting."

"Stop it!" Quinn grits out. "What are you doing?"

"Hey, I'm just trying to help-"

"Well don't, not like this." Quinn looks as if she is about to flip the table.

"But you called me, remember?" Santana reveals.

Rachel wonders what is going on. Why do they look as if they are about to rip each other apart? Is this sexual tension? Or something else?

Quinn breaks their little staring contest first, "I know I called you, but you are so not helping anything right now."

"Alright Q, suit yourself." Santana turns to Rachel and smirks before taking a huge bite of her food.

After they finish eating, they decide to walk around and sight see for a little while. Rachel takes her mind off of what just happened at the restaurant to show them to all of her favorite places in Times Square.

Santana stops and turns to face Rachel and Quinn, who seemingly gravitated towards each other for the walk around town.

"Okay, I'm tired of walking. Rachel, your feet have to be killing you too, right?"

"They are." Rachel admits, her feet feel like they are bleeding a little.

"Alright, so what do you say we grab a cab and hit up a club or two?"

Rachel looks up at Quinn who looks to be unsure about this.

"Anything to take a seat in the back of a cab." Rachel shakes her head, she has no idea where she just agreed to go.

"Cool," Santana reaches out a hand and hails a cab on her first try.

They all pile into the back and Rachel is relieved when she is finally off her feet.

Santana rattles off the address and Rachel knows it sounds familiar, maybe it is near a place she's been to before.

It turns out, it is a place she's been to before.

"Santana, come on." Quinn protests as she looks up at the rainbow lights.

"What's the worst that could happen Q? If you hook up, at least you don't have to worry about getting knocked up again. And Rachel's cool with it, she's got two gay dads right?"

Rachel nods, Quinn takes a deep breath, they both follow behind Santana as she leads them into the club.

Rachel swallows thickly, this is where Kurt took her that night. If that girl that she made out with happens to be here tonight, everything will be out in the open. She doesn't know what to feel right now.

They get on the dance floor and play around. Santana makes a scene, grinding on Quinn and Rachel, grabbing the attention of a lot of the ladies on the floor. When they take a break and get to a table, there are many drinks sent over as well as free appetizers.

A group of women stop by to ask how they are doing. They compliment the three of them, but they flock towards Santana. She takes a liking to the tall blonde in the group, Rachel isn't surprised by that at all. They get up to go dance, leaving Quinn and Rachel at the table together, awkwardly sipping their drinks and turning down the occasional walk by offer to dance.

"So, um, this is fun!" Rachel smiles, she has to shout to be heard over the loud music.

Quinn nods, "Santana is insane!"

Rachel laughs, "I know!"

Quinn looks at her, and she crosses her legs, suddenly nervous with the way she is watching her. They are sitting next to each other in a booth and the closeness is making her nervous in this environment. She picks at the tray of fried stuff in front of them, not wanting to eat any, just to give her hands something to do.

She looks back up, and Quinn is smiling at her. She can't help but smile shyly as she turns away. What is going on right now? Is Quinn flirting with her?

Quinn leans towards her and begins to say something in her ear. The feeling of Quinn's breath on her neck sends a pulse of heat through her entire body and she almost loses it.


	8. Chapter 8

"Hey!"

Rachel turns quickly only to be faced with her worst fear for tonight.

"Remember me? I didn't think I would see you back in here again!" Mila smiles and gives Quinn a nod.

"Oh hi!" Rachel's heart races, she cannot believe this is happening. She doesn't dare look in Quinn's direction right now.

Her face feels hot and her entire body is burning in a different way now, especially her stomach.

"Back for another try?"

"Um, I'm here with friends!"

Mila nods and then Rachel sees her look over at Quinn.

"So, are you two together...?" Mila asks.

"We're…um, just friends!" Rachel shakes her head. She chances a glance at Quinn, and she is staring down at her virgin Cosmo.

Mila's smile gets wider, "Do you want to go dance?"

As much as Rachel wants to get away from the table, she declines and stays put. Mila shrugs and walks away with a wave and a smile before heading back to the dance floor alone.

Rachel takes her straw and begins to stir up her own drink, it's mostly melting ice now. The cat's sort of out of the bag, and she wants to talk to Quinn, but this is neither the time nor place. Rachel silently wishes for Santana's return, which happens just a few minutes later.

It's a little disconcerting when she starts making out with the blonde girl right in front of them. Rachel averts her eyes, where is she supposed to look now? Her eyes flicker up when she sees something white fly by in her peripheral. She sees that Quinn had thrown a balled up napkin at them.

"Hey! What the hell?" Santana breaks her kiss to turn and scowl at Quinn.

"I want to get out of here!" Quinn yells.

"Why?" Santana looks between the two of them confusedly.

"I just do! Come on! You've had your fun! Let's go Santana!" Quinn glares at Santana and Rachel just sits there watching them, afraid to say anything.

"Alright!" Santana takes out her phone, gets the girls number and then she gives her a hug goodbye.

They leave the table as it is and make their way through the crowd to the street.

"What the hell Quinn? Seriously, you need to get laid 'cause I don't appreciate getting cockblocked by you and your little 'friend'."

"Oh, shut up Santana! It was too hot and stuffy in there. We could have gone without you, but I was being a good friend by not leaving you behind."

"Well, next time you want to be a good friend, you let me get my mack on without interrupting okay?"

"Whatever," Quinn checks her watch. "It's late, I guess we should get to the station-"

"Hold up," Santana interrupts.

"I thought you said Rachel has her own dorm room all to herself."

Rachel doesn't know what Santana is planning to do in her dorm but she doesn't want to get into any trouble at school.

Quinn looks at Rachel and then back to Santana. "Yeah, so?"

"I've got my stuff with me, so we're going to crash there tonight. What do you say, Berry? Got any room in your roach motel for one more?"

Rachel is apprehensive, she hopes Santana doesn't start anything when she gets there. Maybe she just wants to see her place, there's no harm in that. Is there?

"Um, yes, sure Santana. I have a few blankets, you could sleep on the floor if that's okay."

"Duh, if it wasn't okay, I wouldn't be asking to stay." Santana smirks at Quinn before winking at Rachel. "Oh, we are going to have some fun tonight! Let's roll bitches!"

Santana successfully hails another cab. Rachel gets in after Quinn and then Santana, that way she doesn't have to be near Quinn the entire way. They take the taxi back to the NYADA campus.

"Nice digs for a dorm, I'm guessing?" Santana says as she looks around. Then she zeroes in on the bed. "Oh wow! It's so tiny! How the hell Quinn? Oh my god." Santana begins cracking up.

Rachel wonders what is so funny about her small bed.

"Hey," Quinn forces through gritted teeth. Santana's laughter dies down and Quinn flashes Rachel a nervous glance.

The entire ride home, she'd kept her eyes looking out the window, focusing on the streets and sights of the city. Now that they are in her room, she feels unnerved by Quinn's occasional stare.

"Hey," Santana reaches into her purse, pulling out a bottle of Sailor Jerry whiskey. "Looky what I got."

"Santana, where did you get that? Were you carrying that around all night?" Quinn asks.

"No dumbass, I went out and had blondie buy it for me. She was 21, and I thought we were going to be drinking it together tonight, but _somebody_ threw a wrench in that plan." Santana glares at Quinn.

"Sorry, but you weren't supposed to ditch us anyway."

"Whatever, she wasn't even that hot. Now, let's get down to business. I've been wanting to get Berry drunk again ever since her little party. Got any shot glasses?"

Santana's smile is a little too mischievous for Rachel's liking. Hopefully, since Quinn is here, she can trust them enough to have a little drink without waking up naked in bed with them tomorrow.

Although…no, she shakes that dirty thought out of her mind as she searches through that bag of new dishware.

Rachel only has a four-pack of juice tumblers that her Dad sent her recently. Then they settle down on top of a few blankets on the floor and try to measure out once-like doses of the whiskey, sipping away at them for about an hour.

"You need to- No, you both need to get laid. I mean, like no hookups? This is college damn it!" Santana hollers at them, upon learning that neither of them have had any one-night stands since starting college.

"Hey! Just because me and Rachel don't wanna sleep with every Tom, Dick and Harry out here...it's nothin' wrong with that." Quinn slurs back, comically pointing her finger at Santana.

Rachel giggles as she watches them, they are really drunk.

"Ha! Every Tom...oh wow, Quinn, really? Yeah, there is definitely nothin' wrong with that. Like I said...hey Rachel!" Santana turns suddenly towards her.

Rachel wonders what new idea popped into her head.

"Huh?"

Santana cuts her eyes at Quinn, "Ever kiss a girl before?"

Rachel swallows down a big gulp of the remaining whiskey in her glass. "Um, yes, I have." She finishes with a nod. She can prove to Santana that she's done some things since starting college.

Santana raises her eyebrows at Quinn. "See? Okay, so out of me and Quinn, who do you think would be a better kisser?" She smiles.

"Santana!" Quinn scoffs before shaking her head.

"What? She's already said she's kissed girls before, I just wanna know,"

Rachel looks between them both for a second. "Um, I think..." she tries to stall, plus the alcohol is inhibiting her thought process.

"Quinn." She ends up saying softly. Avoiding all eye contact with her by looking into her cup as she takes another sip.

"Quinn? Are you serious? You think she learned a good technique from her pillow or something? Here, I'll prove you wrong,"

Santana moves forward, capturing her lips in a kiss that starts off sloppy, then begins to melt into a nice warm whiskey flavored experience. She feels Santana jerk away, and she opens her eyes. She sees that Quinn actually ripped them apart. Her eyes look glassy, and Rachel is filled with instant regret.

"Whoa, what's the matter Q? Think I'm a steal your girl? Or you just jealous and want some yourself? Don't worry, there's more of me to go around." Santana tilts her head and presses her lips to Quinn's.

Rachel watches them and even though she feels partly jealous, she also gets that feeling down below and it makes her nervous again. She starts to look away and luckily, Quinn ends the kiss before it goes too far.

"Stop Santana!" Quinn yells as she forcefully pushes her away.

Santana takes a look back at Rachel and then turns back to Quinn.

"God, you two belong together, seriously." She says slurring as she falls over onto her makeshift bed.

Rachel looks over at Santana, she seems to be asleep. "I wanted to tell you." She whispers.

"That girl was the one-night kiss?"

Rachel nods.

"She was...pretty." Quinn says with a look of distaste.

Rachel pauses because Quinn is obviously jealous. She was so nervous about her finding out, but this reaction is the best so far. She wants to tell her so much, but the alcohol is really getting in the way of making coherent sentences.

"I need to piss!" Santana says loudly, shooting up from her lying position.

"Oh, um, I have to show you where it is." Rachel says as she tries to get to her feet. Thankfully, Quinn is there to help her up.

They all decide to take the trip together. The three of them lock arms in order to stay upright as they venture down the hall towards the bathroom. The minute they let Santana go, she stumbles and they both have to catch her before she falls. They burst through the door, howling with laughter.

Rachel steadies herself on a basin. She looks up into the mirror, she has never been this drunk before. It seems as if the tiles on the wall are moving behind her. Something else is moving behind her as well, she turns around to come face to face with Quinn. The look in Quinn's eyes would probably scare Rachel any other time, but then her eyes flicker down to her lips. She inches closer and Rachel holds her breath.

"If we do this...everything is going to change." Quinn says, barely above a whisper.

"I know that, and I can't wait for things to change." Rachel says surely, even though she slurred through it.

Quinn moves forward a little more, "Even though it's wearing down, we're pretty drunk."

"I know," Rachel nods as her eyes involuntarily close.

"I really want to kiss you right now." Quinn presses a hand to Rachel's cheek, gently cradling her face.

Rachel swallows thickly, she wants this more than anything, but she does want to remember it clearly so she isn't disappointed when Quinn pulls back. They stay close though, reveling in just being near each other.

"I hope we remember this tomorrow." Quinn laughs lightly.

Rachel nods, and her head is swimming, she's partly intoxicated from the alcohol, and also from being this close to Quinn right now.

"Whoooooo!" Santana cheers as she exits the stall.

They both jump apart.

"Bathroom banging, that's what I'm talkin' bout Q." Santana winks before slapping Quinn on the butt.

Quinn sneers at her before going into a stall, and Santana looks at Rachel with a satisfied smile on her face. Rachel sucks in a deep breath and walks right by her into another stall.

After their bathroom break, they go back to Rachel's room and finish off the bottle of whiskey.

Rachel wakes up however many hours later, not remembering why she is sleeping on her floor. When she finds Santana spooning Quinn next to her, she hopes nothing went on that she regrets. Things are blurry, and she still feels sluggish. She crawls up and plops down on her bed.

A few minutes later, she feels a weight pressing on her legs, and she sees it's Quinn crawling into bed with her. She snuggles up behind her like always.

"Hey you." Rachel whispers.

"Hey, what is going on? And why was Santana's hand on my ass?"

"I don't know, I can't really remember."

"Yeah, everything is a blur. Hopefully we didn't embarrass ourselves." Quinn laughs lightly before her breathing evens out.

They both fall asleep in silence, the alcohol still coursing through their veins.

The next morning, Rachel is awakened by her phone blaring and she rushes to pick it up. Her eyes burn and her head is pounding, but she finally focuses to read what it says. It's her alarm, it says they have rehearsal at 1:00 pm and it is almost noon.

"Oh shoot, Quinn wake up. We have afternoon practice today."

"What?" She says groggily.

Rachel turns over to face her, flashes of what went on last night replay in her head.

"We have rehearsal." Rachel says more softly.

"Oh," Quinn sits upright before falling back down. "Ow, I think my head is bleeding." She mumbles.

"Me too,"

Quinn drags herself out of bed and rummages through her purse.

"Here," Quinn hands Rachel two blue pills. "It's Excedrin. They have caffeine in them to wake you up." She pops two in her mouth as Rachel does the same.

Rachel watches as Quinn then turns to get something to wear out of her closet. The fact that Quinn has clothes here and sometimes even borrows her own, causes her to mind to wonder.

She had never thought about the benefits of having a girlfriend and the sharing of clothes, but she is now. From what she remembers went on last night, she might have one by the end of the day.

Rachel gets up and grabs some workout pants and a t-shirt of Quinn's to put on. She feels a nudge and she looks up at Quinn, who is wearing a smirk as she gestures to the shirt. Rachel blushes and continues grabbing her shower gel before they head towards the bathroom together.

Rachel comes out of the shower to see Quinn in the mirror drying her hair. She smiles when they catch each other's eyes in the mirror. Quinn turns off the hair dryer and turns to face her.

"Do you want to get some coffee before we go to the theatre?"

"Yes, my head is still pounding."

Quinn nods as she turns back to gather her things. "So…we have some things to talk about,"

Rachel stops her movements, "We do." She says and then she turns on the dryer. Her eyes are forward, but she can feel Quinn watching her. When she finishes, Quinn helps her with her things and they go back to her room.

"What are you doing?" Quinn asks her.

Rachel continues to jot down a quick note for Santana, explaining where they have gone. "I'm just writing her a note, Quinn."

"Really? Okay, but we have like ten minutes to get coffee."

"Alright I'm done." Rachel sets the note in plain view before locking the door behind her.

They make their way to the train and then they get coffee before rushing to the theatre for rehearsal. Rachel holds Quinn's cup as she stretches out before they go their separate ways.

"Thanks," Quinn says as she grabs her coffee. Rachel smiles at her and they end up having a staring contest in the hallway.

"Whoa, is Tzeitel having a little showdown with her Russian nemesis?" Jesse jokes as he comes over to them.

"Hello Quinn, Rachel, you two look like you've just rolled out of bed. What happened to your new look Rachel?"

"We had a long night Jesse. And Rachel didn't need that new look anyway, she's fine in whatever she wants to wear." Quinn tells him.

Jesse laughs, "Okay, so what were you two up to last night? And why wasn't I invited?" He smirks.

"We had a girl's night out, so…" Quinn shrugs.

"Yeah, no boys allowed." Rachel shakes her head playfully.

Jesse looks between them with a grin. "God, that sounds, so…salacious. I can only imagine what went on."

Quinn scrunches up her nose before darting her eyes over to Rachel. "Ew, Jesse, stop. Look, can we talk after practice?"

"Sure, what about?" He raises his eyebrows.

"I- um, can we just talk later?"

Jesse narrows his eyes at Quinn and Rachel continues to sip her coffee, secretly enjoying this. She really needs to ask Quinn exactly what she was thinking going out with him.

After practice, Rachel sees Quinn coming towards her. She knows that she is probably looking for Jesse, but she smiles brightly at her anyway.

"Hey, you look out of it." Rachel can tell Quinn is tired, those dancers have a lot of choreography to learn.

"I am, my everything hurts."

Rachel reaches out to rub at her shoulders, signaling for her to turn around. "Let me," She begins to rub in circles, and Quinn lets out a quiet moan.

"That feels really good." Quinn breathes out.

"Was last night anything like this?" Jesse comes out of the room, and Rachel drops her hands to her sides.

"I think I'll go. Meet me outside?" Rachel asks Quinn and she nods as she runs a hand through her hair.

Rachel leaves the building, it shouldn't take Quinn too long, she and Jesse only went on one date. It's just the whole issue of them working on the show together that could be a problem. Rachel doesn't know how he'll take it if he knew that Quinn was letting him down for her.

"You ready to go?" Quinn smiles as she comes out of the door. Rachel's eyes go wide when she sees Jesse with her.

"Hey, y-yeah, um…wha-"

"Oh," Quinn glances back at Jesse, "Yeah, he knows…the _reason_ that I ended things."

"You told him?" Rachel is shocked, she didn't expect Quinn to come out with it so soon.

Jesse lets out a low chuckle, "No, she didn't have to tell me anything. You two came in looking like it was the morning after. I know I'm not the sharpest tool, but I can put two and two together."

"Oh," Rachel feels embarrassed that they were that obvious.

"It's fine, really. No love lost." He sighs, "Well, I'll see you tomorrow, rehearsal's at the same time." He gives them a smile before walking off.

"That went far better than I had thought." Rachel says.

"I have to admit, I used to hate him, even on our date, but today he was really cool."

"Wait, if you hated him, why'd you go out with him?"

Quinn looks down, "It's a dumb reason."

"Yeah?" Rachel figured as much.

"Yes, but, we're going to talk later? After we kick Santana out, right?"

"Yes, definitely. I really would like some answers."

"And I'll give them to you. I have some questions of my own as well."

"Okay, well let's get some food first, I'm starving."


	9. Chapter 9

A/N: I hope everyone enjoys, there will only be one more chapter after this. :)

* * *

Rachel tries to balance the bag of food in her hand as she tries to fish out her keys. She looks up and finds Quinn smiling down at her as she takes the bag into her already overloaded arms. They ordered a lot of food, but Quinn told her that Santana can really pack it away.

Quinn clears her throat and Rachel looks up, wondering what she wants because she can't seem to find her keys.

"You can knock." Quinn points out with a satisfied expression.

"Oh…right."

Rachel automatically feels foolish, she had completely forgotten that Santana was in her room.

Santana lets them in and Rachel walks through the door to find the entire room cleaned up from last night. She is surprised to say the least.

"I was just about to call you Quinn. My flight is at five, so I only have about an hour before I have to leave." Santana says as they walk through the door.

"Okay, so let's eat and we'll come and see you off at the train." Quinn says as she sets out the containers of Korean take out on Rachel's desk.

"Ooh, what did you guys get?" Santana snoops through the containers. "This looks good, and I'm starving."

Rachel gets out plates and hands one to each of them. They sit down to eat their meals and Rachel notices Santana watching her and Quinn as she shovels in mouthfuls of Bibimbap and Japchae.

"So, what's up with you guys?" She asks, pointing at them with her fork.

Rachel looks at Quinn and then down at her plate of food. She raises her eyebrows, there was definitely progress made last night for sure. But, they have a lot to talk about and Rachel doesn't know what to tell Santana at this point.

"Santana, just...you know what I already told you, so...I mean, we haven't talked yet, okay." Quinn raises her eyebrows.

Santana looks between them and she gives Rachel the sweetest smile she's ever seen.

"Quinn, what's there to talk about? You two already sleep in the same bed, just, do it without clothes on next time."

"Oh my God." Quinn's face is suddenly red, and Rachel feels that her face probably is too.

"Hey, but seriously, I am happy for you guys. Whatever you guys have here, it works for you, so...don't fuck it up Quinn."

Quinn shakes her head, "Thanks, nice to have such a supportive friend." she replies sarcastically.

"No problem. Anyway, I have to tell you that Mercedes called me earlier, we got a meeting with a producer Monday."

"Really? Oh my-Congratulations! What does that mean though?" Quinn asks.

"Well, we could get a chance to record our song and then it could take off from there."

"Wow, that sounds amazing! I always knew you two had potential to become something great if you put your minds to it." Rachel could tell from the way their voices complimented each others during duets that they would have good chances at a career together.

"Thanks, Rachel. I'm glad you're proud of me?" Santana looks partly confused, but she ends up giving Rachel a smile in the end.

Rachel laughs, "I am though, you deserve it." She can feel Quinn looking at her, and her face feels warm. She looks down and concentrates on finishing her meal so that they can get Santana to the station on time.

They had just gotten to the station, when Santana's train arrives. Rachel watches as Santana gives Quinn a tight hug.

"I'm going to miss you, Q."

"Me too. And good luck in L.A."

"Thanks."

They pull apart and then Santana comes over to her, she wraps her arms around her.

"You make her happy, okay?" Santana whispers in her ear.

"I will."

She gets on the train and turns to wave at them through the glass. They stand and watch as the train takes off. Rachel sees Quinn get a text soon after the train is out of view. She smirks at it before putting her phone away.

Rachel is a little surprised when she suddenly feels a warm hand in her own. She takes it a step further and interlaces their fingers, all while bashfully keeping her head down. They both giggle with nervous laughter as they begin the walk back to campus.

As they approach her door, Quinn suddenly drops her hand. Rachel looks up at her and sees that look on her face again.

"What are you thinking?" Rachel asks.

"Um, I'm thinking about what we're about to do. I feel kind of excited and nervous…I don't know."

"It does feel a little daunting now doesn't it?"

"Yeah,"

Rachel unlocks the door and turns on the light. She throws her keys on the desk.

"So, where should we start?"

Quinn blows a breath of air from her mouth. "Um, I guess I should tell you why I went out with Jesse."

"Okay,"

"I was trying to keep him away from you."

"What? Why?"

"I didn't want you to fall back in with him, he hurt you before. You had just got rid of Finn and I was…maybe I should start at the beginning."

"You can," Rachel wants to tell her so much, but she has to let Quinn talk first because she wants to know how she feels.

"Okay, uh, I've had feelings for you, from before, last year."

Rachel can feel her mouth drop open, she feels a heavy weight pressing on her lungs. She had inklings about this back then, but something inside her always shut those thoughts down. She never allowed her mind to think that someone like Quinn Fabray would never be even remotely interested in her. It's probably why she still had trouble seeing it up until recently.

"I had tried to forget you know, but when you showed up at my door that day, it all came flooding back. I wanted more than anything to tell you how I felt but you had just broken things off with Finn and I didn't want to be your rebound."

"That's why you were pushing for me to get out there and date? Quinn that's insane, couldn't you see that I wanted you?"

"I knew somewhat, but I had my doubts. I don't think I could handle it if we were to be together only for you to change your mind and realize this isn't what you wanted." Quinn's voice is low, and Rachel looks over to see that she's crying.

"The more time we spent together, the more I knew that this is exactly what I want. I want you Quinn, and I feel that we've built something here that will last."

Quinn snorts lightly, "You really think so?"

"Yes, and as agonizing as it was to not be able to touch you the way that I wanted to, I know now it was worth it. We've managed to deepen our bond past friendship, you know." Rachel is very sure of this.

"Santana kept telling me that friends don't do this or that, and I always said, well, me and Rachel are different. So I see what you mean about us becoming more than friends without even knowing it." Quinn seems to go off into her mind thinking over their entire friendship so far.

"Yeah, we both have been very patient. So, now that we know that I'm single, what about you? Are you going to divorce Finn?" She turns to face Rachel full on.

"Oh, about that, I kind of promised him that I would hold off for a few months just in case something happened to him."

"Oh, well…that's…a little sad."

"Yeah, I guess it is. Ha, remember when you thought that was the reason I came to see you at Yale?"

A look of horror passes over Quinn's features. "God, that was so insensitive of me, I'm really sorry about that."

"It's okay, and you don't have to worry about me ever getting back together with him. But if you want, I'll go file the paperwork at city hall,"

"No, you made a promise, I would never try to control you like that. You can do it whenever you feel it's time."

"Um, okay." Rachel would do it tomorrow if Quinn had shown any signs of discomfort over it, luckily she's as understanding as always.

Rachel turns to face Quinn, her profile betraying her once impassive expression. Her eyes dart from place to place, she looks to be formulating something important. Is it too soon to tell each other 'I love you'?

"I want you to know that I want to be with you too Rachel. Like I said, I've had these romantic feelings for you for a while and I knew it meant something. Um, it took some soul searching and over time I realized that…I'm like Santana." Quinn runs a hand through her hair. "I-I'm a lesbian."

Rachel grips into one of her hands tightly, she watches as Quinn breathes a sigh of relief.

"I've never told anyone that before. I mean, Santana knows, she always has, but I never said anything." Quinn swipes at the tears falling from her eyes.

Rachel swallows down her own tears. The fact that Quinn just came out to her is a big deal, so much so that Rachel feels comfortable to come out as well.

"That was…very brave of you. Um, now I feel a little upstaged, I was preparing to tell you that I'm bisexual but you beat me to the punch."

Quinn turns to face her, "Wait, really? You're sure about that?"

"Yes, it took me some time as well, but I figured it out for the most part."

"So, what next?" Quinn looks down at their joined hands.

Rachel knows exactly what she wants to do now, she pulls their hands up to her lips, placing a soft kiss on top of Quinn's.

She stares up into Quinn's shining hazel eyes, and then shifts her gaze down to her lips. She pulls her mouth away from Quinn's hand and she hears her gasp. They both seem to be the same page as they slowly move forward.

It's soft and shaky the moment their lips meet. Rachel pulls back a little, moistens her lips and places a hand on Quinn's warm cheek before she goes back in. This time their lips brush against each other's gently and with more control.

When they finally separate, Rachel drops her head, panting lightly, as they press their foreheads together. Rachel takes in deep breath as Quinn turns her head and presses a kiss to the palm of her hand.

"God, that was intense." Quinn exhales softly and they lock eyes again.

"It was." Rachel agrees. "I want to do it again."

She hears Quinn suck in a deep breath, and she moves forward connecting their lips again. There is a moan, and Rachel's sure it came from both of them, she wants to gush about how in synch they are, but her mouth is busy at the moment.

Her hands are busy as well, one is tangled up in the back of Quinn's hair while the other grips into her hip. Both of Quinn's are holding her face, but then one of her hands is slipping downward slowly. It ends up resting softly on her ribcage.

She opens her mouth to allow Quinn to venture inside. The first swipe of Quinn's tongue on hers sends a jolt through Rachel's entire body, pooling somewhere down below.

She pushes Quinn back, until she is lying flat on her bed. Their lips part and Quinn looks up at her with a look of astonishment on her face.

"Well, this position seems familiar." Quinn jokes, finishing with a grin.

"It does."

Rachel swallows before sliding up her body. She searches Quinn's face, as she stares from a breath away.

"What?" Quinn's voice sounds so fragile, so full of concern. Rachel wants to erase all doubt from her mind, from both of their minds, so that they can fully trust one another.

"Can we make this official? Like, call each other girlfriends?"

Quinn tries to raise her head, but Rachel presses her back down. She wants to keep this dominant position over her. She wants to be able to read her expression and make sure this is something that she wants as well.

"Uh, yes, we can do that." She smiles, it's an easy smile and Rachel knows that it's genuine.

Rachel is ecstatic, she has a girlfriend now, and she's Quinn. The smile that spreads across her face does little to express her happiness as she tucks a free strand of hair behind her ear. She leans down and gives Quinn a single kiss to seal the deal.

"If I had said no, would we still make out?" Quinn asks, her grin morphing into a smirk.

Rachel giggles lightly before closing her eyes and releasing a sigh, "I don't know the answer to that since you already said yes."

"You're so cute." Quinn whispers as she looks up at her.

Suddenly, she wraps her hands around Rachel's waist, pulling her tight against her. Rachel lets out a small squeak and it surprises them both. Their giggles die down quickly as Quinn smoothes her hands up her back, pressing their top halves together.

The warmth that they create between them causes Rachel to release a moan. She tilts her head to the side and glides her lips across Quinn's, and they continue their kiss in their recumbent position.

That is until there is a knock at the door.

Rachel sits up, "Who could that be?" She gets up from the bed and goes to answer it.

"Hi Rachel." It's that guy from dance class.

"Hi," She says, confused as to why he's at her door.

"Yeah, I'm here to notify you that we're throwing a party tonight to celebrate the end of semester. It starts in a few hours but you're invited to come out and join in the festivities. There's enough jello shots to go around."

"Um, I'm vegan, so I don't drink those. Anyway, I'll probably be staying in tonight, thanks for the invite though. Um, Donald." Rachel is surprised at how his name just popped into her head after she had previously forgotten it. He smiles when he hears her say his name, as if he hadn't expected her to remember it.

"Okay, see you in class then."

She closes the door behind her.

"Who was that?"

"A guy from class telling me they're throwing a party tonight."

"Oh god, really? I wanted to get some sleep tonight." Quinn pouts.

"I know, maybe we should take a nap before everything starts, also I think we should probably go take our showers now."

"Good idea."

They search for some pajamas and head out to go take quick showers. They get back and shut themselves in Rachel's room.

"So…what now?" Quinn asks looking up at her from her bed. Rachel had gone to go look out her door to check if the party was already starting, it was.

Rachel looks around her room nervously, she has an idea of what she wants to do, but she doesn't want Quinn to think she only wants her for her body.

"Um, how about…I don't know." Rachel shrugs.

"Come…sit on the bed with me then."

Rachel's heart jumps at the sound of Quinn's voice, she probably has no clue just how much her raspy tone turns her on. She walks over timidly and perches herself on the edge next to Quinn.

"So…"

Quinn looks her in the eye and her arousal must show, because Quinn moves forward and kisses her again. This continues for a minute until Quinn pulls back out of breath.

"Maybe we could watch a movie?"

Rachel's face must obviously show her mild discontentment.

"Um, I'm sorry, the idea just popped into my head."

"It's okay Quinn, it's a great idea." Rachel nods before getting up and unplugging her laptop and bringing over to the bed. She urges Quinn to scoot up onto the bed before climbing up there next to her.

"You know, I have another idea,"

"Hmm?"

"I've kind of been waiting to try this for a while since we've started watching shows on your laptop together."

"What's that?"

"Stand up," Quinn tells her.

Rachel picks her laptop up and stands. She watches as Quinn positions herself directly in the center of the bed.

She then spreads her legs open and beckons Rachel with a finger. "Okay, come sit right here." Quinn gestures to the spot between her legs and Rachel feels her knees go weak.

She inches forward nervously and sits the laptop down at the foot of the bed. Then she climbs in between Quinn's warm thighs and scoots back until they are flush with one another.

The closeness is comforting and when Quinn wraps a hand around her waist, Rachel lets out a sigh.

"See? I knew this would work."

"Yeah…it's…nice." Rachel exhales. She reaches forward and grabs her laptop while she still has control over her hands.

"What do you want to watch?"

"I'm not sure, just…something romantic."

"Okay," Rachel opens up her video folder and chooses one of her favorite movies.

The opening titles show on the screen, "Hey, is this a musical?" Quinn asks, her voice just above a whisper.

Rachel giggles at the way Quinn's voice tickles her ear. "Is that a problem?" she asks playfully.

"No," Quinn states simply.

They get into watching the movie and about thirty minutes in, Quinn's hands begin to absentmindedly stroke at Rachel's stomach. Her fingers are circling, and swirling on top of the thin material of Rachel's pajama top. Rachel's eyes roll to the back of her head, and her fingers curl into the blanket covering their legs.

"Quinn," Rachel whimpers.

"Mmhmm?"

"What are you-Oh,"

Quinn's lips ghost over the bare skin of her neck and she moans in anticipation of contact.

"Your neck looks so soft Rachel," Quinn rasps. "And you smell so good, I just can't help myself, mmm." She places a soft kiss to the side of Rachel's neck. Rachel moans aloud as her hips jerk slightly as Quinn's lips continue to lavish her neck in kisses.

"God, Quinn y-you're going to make me drop my laptop."

"I'll buy you a new one if that happens, but try to keep it open, I'm still watching the movie."

"H-ow!" Rachel squeals when Quinn starts using her teeth. She starts to tremble and her laptop almost falls after her entire body jerks uncontrollably. She slams it shut and sets it back down at the foot of the bed.

"Hey, I was-" Quinn's eyes go wide as Rachel turns to face her.

She sees just how blown Quinn's pupils are and she guesses hers are looking very similar.

"I couldn't take it, Quinn."

The heat emanating from Quinn's core is absolutely insufferable at this point. She slips her hand to the back of Quinn's neck and pulls her forward. Their kiss is much more gentle this time because they've been making out off and on for a while and their lips are pretty chafed.

There is another knock on her door.

Rachel pauses and when the person seems to have gotten the message, she continues doing what she was doing.

The person knocks again and Rachel lets out a frustrated growl.

"Rachel! S'Brody!"

"Oh," Rachel sits up then and Quinn runs a hand through her hair. "It's just Brody, I guess he's at the party. I'll go get rid of him really quickly, okay."

"Yeah, okay. I don't mind." Quinn sighs, she says she doesn't mind but Rachel knows that she is not liking these interruptions one bit. Same goes for herself.

She unlocks and yanks her door open to come face to face with an obviously inebriated Brody.

"Heeeeey Racheeeel! What's up? Why aren't you partying tonight?"

"Brody! I-" Rachel steps further out of her room, closing the door behind her. "I am busy right now." She tries to convey with her eyes just how 'busy' she is as well as the context of the 'business'. The gesture is not taken well on account of his drunkenness though.

"What? No way, with what?" He questions as narrows his eyes at her.

"I'm- Quinn's here." She says in a quieter tone.

"Wh-" It takes him a second before realization comes over him. "Oh man, really? S-she's _in_ there?"

Rachel nods.

"Alright," He tries to give her a high five and she swats his hand away.

"Would you put your hand down?" She hisses. "Please, leave now thank you." Rachel pushes him back out into the hall. "I-I'll talk to you later, okay?"

"Okay, I'm going, I'm going. Bye Quinn!" He yells before running off and rejoining the party.

Rachel cannot believe he just did that. Drunk or not, he is so going to pay for that.

She turns around and takes a deep breath to compose herself before reentering her room.

"I'm so sorry about that, he was drunk."

Quinn gives her an understanding nod. "I think maybe we need to get you a sign that says 'No boys allowed' to hang on your door, huh?"

Rachel laughs, "Yeah, I think we do." She gets back into bed with Quinn and they resume their previous activities.

It's easy for them to fall back into their heavy make out session. Quinn's hands wander about, but she makes sure to keep them above the waist and Rachel appreciates that. Rachel has been on top of Quinn this entire time, straddling her waist. After Quinn sucks at a particularly sensitive spot underneath her ear, Rachel rolls her hips and grinds down hard. It releases a deep moan from the girl under her and she presses a hand into Rachel's chest.

"Um, we have..." A kiss. "to slow down Rachel." Another one.

Rachel finally pulls back enough to look down at Quinn. Her lips are so swollen and plump, she wants to suck on them some more.

"I know," Rachel husks.

"It's becoming really hard to keep stopping because now that we've started this, I don't think I can get enough of you."

"Mmm, God, Quinn you're making it harder for me now. But…I really want to take you on a date before we go any further."

Quinn props herself up on her elbows with a surprised look on her face. "Really? You're asking me on a date?"

"Yeah, to reciprocate for our pseudo first date."

Quinn quirks an eyebrow at her. "Our what?"

"Our pseudo first date, you know, when you took me to that concert?"

"Oh, well if that's the case, we've been 'pseudo' dating for months now."

"Well if you put it that way..." Rachel leans back down until she's an inch away from Quinn's face.

"Now, now, Rachel," Quinn puts up her hand. "I wouldn't want to throw a wrench in your plans for the night of our first _real _date."

"Okay," She takes a look down at their position at the moment. "I guess I should probably get off of you now then."

"If you'd like,"

"I-I..." They really need to cool it down, it's only been a few hours since they've officially gotten together for goodness sake.

Rachel carefully lifts up off of Quinn and settles in next to her. She slides in there close, finally able to actually enjoy the delicious way their bodies fit with one another.

Rachel falls asleep with Quinn's hand wrapped around her waist gripping onto her tightly for the first time ever.


	10. Chapter 10

A/N: Hi, I'm sorry this took so long. This is the first part of the final chapter, the next chapter will be posted soon.

* * *

Rachel exits the UPS store and makes her way back to the NYADA campus. She just finished sending off her first care package to Finn in Texas after selling her engagement ring and Finn necklace to a pawnshop. She feels only slightly bad that she used a good chunk of the $800 to buy Quinn a Christmas present. She does have a job now, so she can afford to prepare packages for him later on with the money she makes on her show.

"Are you on your way down here? I know you'll make it, but I'd rather you be early than anything else." Rachel kicks off her shoes as soon as she gets in her door. She holds her phone between her ear and shoulder as she shrugs out of her coat before plopping down on her bed.

"Rachel, I have been waiting impatiently for this night and I promise you that I will not be late. I know just how much you love punctuality and we both know what happened the last time I was late meeting you so…"

"Quinn! Don't kid about that."

"Sorry…just come open the door."

"What?"

"I'm outside,"

Quinn knocks twice on the door and Rachel hangs up her phone before running over to the door. She wrenches it open and throws her arms around Quinn, exhaling into her neck and squeezing her hard.

"What are you doing here already?" Rachel asks, her voice muffled by Quinn's sweater.

"I was planning on a sweet surprise by knocking on the door while we were talking, but then _that_ happened…I'm sorry if I brought up any old feelings for you. I guess I'm just in a place where I can joke about it now, anyway, Happy early Birthday."

Rachel lifts her head from Quinn's shoulder, she's holding a small bundle of balloons. Sometimes she thinks she has Quinn all figured out, but then she does little special things like this. They aren't the biggest gestures, but they show that Quinn thinks of her a lot. She doesn't even care about their conversation just a minute ago, she's just happy that she has Quinn to hold onto now.

"Thank you, you're so sweet," Rachel pulls herself up to press her lips to Quinn's. "And thoughtful." She takes in a deep breath before tilting her head back up to go in for more.

They kiss for a little in her doorway before Rachel takes Quinn by the hand, leading her inside and over to the bed. Quinn lets go of the balloons as she tosses her bag down next to the bed without breaking their connection.

She gets them back on track by disconnecting their lips. "Hey," Quinn says softly.

"Hmm?" Rachel hums, she's still a little dazed from being this close to Quinn after three whole days.

"Shouldn't we be getting ready? You know, for our first _real _date?"

Rachel sighs, she hadn't forgot, she just wanted to spend some more quality time with Quinn's lips before they go out. She decides that Quinn is right, they should probably start getting ready. She has so much planned and she wants everything to go smoothly.

"You're right, there is so much in store for you, it's going to be bigger than big, it's going to be epic!" Rachel exclaims to her, accompanied by jazz hands to emphasize just how grand their date tonight will be.

"Oh really? I'm going to hold you to this," Quinn teases.

"Don't you worry your pretty little head." She gives Quinn a soft tap on the head as she stands from the bed, turning to go to her closet to get out her outfit for tonight.

Ever since they've gotten closer, Rachel has noticed that Quinn has almost as many quirks as she herself does. She licks her lips a lot, sometimes it seems she doesn't know what to do with her hands, and her eyebrows are her greatest tell. The way they arched just now means she's probably excited about tonight as well.

They both get changed in Rachel's dorm which may have been a mistake because they get a little sidetracked again after only removing their tops. Things have gone a little further since that day they became a couple, yet not completely all the way.

Their date tonight will be the perfect set up for their first night together. Rachel knows that she loves Quinn, and she wants everything to go perfectly tonight, for their date and everything that comes after.

"So, where are we going first?" Quinn asks with a hopeful excited look on her face.

Rachel is instantly nervous, she hopes that what she has planned is good enough for Quinn and that she doesn't get bored or anything. "Um, well, I have tickets to see 'Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?' but first we-"

"Are you serious? When did you get tickets? You had to have gotten them a while ago, which means you were planning on taking me before we were even together."

"Uh, yeah, I guess you caught me. Well, it's still special right? Even if I only planned to go as friends back then?"

"Are you kidding? Rachel, that makes it even more special. Now I understand your idea of us 'pseudo dating' before. And Virginia Woolf? Does that mean I'm your Vita Sackville West?"

"Who? You know the play has nothing to do with Virginia Woolf, right?"

Quinn shakes her head with a giggle. "Nevermind, just know that I'm really excited about tonight, regardless of anything we do on this date."

Rachel takes a calming breath, she really wants to impress Quinn. She leads them to the train to get to Central Park, which is the major part of their daytime activities on their date.

As they sit on the crowded train, Rachel looks over at Quinn, she's staring down at her hands, while biting her lip. She looks to be mulling over some happy thought or something.

Rachel wants to add that sexy lip bite to the little things that she enjoys about Quinn's mannerisms.

"I had to tell someone, about us," Quinn blurts out suddenly.

Rachel is stunned, that's a pleasant surprise. "You did?" She asks, biting her lip to stifle her huge proud grin.

"Uh huh, this guy came up to me as I was getting my coffee, he asked me out. So I told him I had a girlfriend then he just apologized and walked away. It was the first time I ever said that out loud to someone. It felt great." Her eyes are brimming with delight as she tells Rachel the little story. Quinn looks so proud of herself, and Rachel is there right along with her.

"Quinn," she slips her fingers into Quinn's hand. "You are amazing, the best girlfriend I've ever had."

Quinn's smile gets even wider, "That's cause I'm the first and hopefully the only one you'll ever have." She leans over to place a soft peck on Rachel's waiting lips.

This amount of public affection is new for them, but she isn't surprised at it, Quinn has made leaps as far as progress in physical contact ever since they reunited months ago. There have been countless public hugs and handholds before they were even dating, and now she can add kissing in public to that list now.

They get off the train and walk down Fifth Avenue until they arrive at their destination.

"Oh my God, The Met? Rachel, I can't believe you!" Quinn exclaims with wide eyes.

"I was hoping that you'd enjoy coming here."

"Enjoy? It's like I've died and gone to heaven."

Rachel feels her heart swell as Quinn clenches her hand tightly as they walk up the steps of the grand museum. They enter and Rachel pays the acceptable donation as Quinn stares in awe.

"I should kill you for not telling me about this, I would have brought my good camera Rachel. I guess my phone will have to do, though." Quinn chastises her as she snaps picture after picture of any and everything in sight.

"I'm sorry, I wanted it to be a surprise. We could come back again another day when you're prepared. I mean, we have to, because we don't have enough time to get through everything before they close soon anyway."

"God, I know, we have to come back soon though, promise?"

"Okay, let's go get something to snack on before the show now. There are tons of vendors in the park, and then we could walk around a little after."

"That sounds nice," Quinn offers Rachel her arm as they leave the museum with a promise to continue their exploration another day.

They walk around with their food after she was somehow talked into getting a waffle after Quinn learned that they served vegan ones at that particular waffle stand.

"This is not going to fill me up Quinn."

"Don't worry, we'll go to dinner after the show then."

"Oh I'd already planned to, it's just that, ever since I moved here, I've gained a whole new respect for food. It seems all I ever do is eat, now that there are so many options for me out here."

"At least you're being conscious, all I ever eat is junk food, hence the waffles. And it all seems to be going to my thighs."

Rachel has to bite her lip after taking a look at Quinn's thighs, she doesn't see anything wrong with that.

"Hey!" Quinn slaps Rachel's arm.

"I'm sorry, I couldn't help myself, you have really…nice thighs."

"Rachel, stop. Do not try to tell me you like my fat thighs."

"They are not! Quinn, I would give anything…" Rachel takes a step closer to Quinn to ensure their privacy with what she is about to say. "…to have those thighs wrapped around my head later on tonight. So when I tell you I like them just the way they are, believe me, I am not lying."

It seems that she has just stunned Quinn speechless because she is still standing in the same spot even though Rachel has kept on walking. She goes back to retrieve her red-faced girlfriend with a mischievous smirk in place.

"You cannot just say things like that to me in public Rachel." Quinn huffs as she places Rachel's hand back in its place on her arm.

"Sorry, even though it's true, I'll hold my tongue until later on."

"My goodness Rachel, now I'm thinking about your tongue and what you said before… Could you just stop talking for a minute?"

Rachel laughs, this is pretty amusing. She cannot believe that Quinn is getting so worked up like this. She guesses all of this time she's been holding onto some pent up sexual frustration as well.

They watch the show at the Booth theatre on Broadway.

"That was…dark, kinda reminded me of my parents a little too, they might as well have been childless."

"Quinn are you okay? I'm sorry if you were upset by it."

"I'm not scarred or anything Rachel, just…it made me think of them."

"Is there anything I can do?" Rachel asks as she slips her arms around her girlfriend.

"No, I'm fine." Quinn sucks in a deep breath. "So, where to for dinner?"

"Oh, yes, right, we're heading to Atlas. It's down the street from campus so we better catch the train now and then we could take a cab home from there."

It's a little café specializing in vegan/vegetarian fare, Rachel got the recommendation from Brody. While it isn't a romantic dinner in a restaurant, this is well within budget and Rachel thinks that dining in tonight will set the mood for their later activities.

"This place is cute, oh! Look Rachel, they sell cake!"

Rachel shakes her head, Quinn makes her way over to the dessert case, and she goes ahead and order them a couple of vegan Panini sandwiches and then she let's Quinn pick out a huge slice of vegan carrot cake.

"You are a terrible influence," Rachel smiles while she eyes the desert case as the lady packs up their food to go. She has all sorts of naughty thoughts about what she would do to one of those brownies. "Um, we'll take a brownie also, thanks."

Rachel blushes as Quinn gives her an approving nod. They grab their bags of food and make their way to her dorm room finally.

"You know," Rachel sets down her bag on her table, "We have to get tickets to go see 'Cat On A Hot Tin Roof' Quinn. Scarlett Johanssen looked so sexy up there on that billboard."

"You think so, huh?"

"Jealous?"

"No, I've just never heard you call another woman sexy before. You're right though, she did look good up there. And it starts on your birthday, I'll buy us the tickets this time. Get your laptop."

Rachel gets her laptop off the desk and brings it over to the table, setting it in front of Quinn. She massages at Quinn's shoulders as she boots up the computer.

"Aren't you going to eat your food?"

"I'll wait until you're done." Rachel says as she continues digging her hands into Quinn's tense shoulders.

"Uh, that feels really good." Quinn tilts her head and Rachel seizes the opportunity to place a soft kiss to the exposed side of her neck.

"Maybe I'll do this later," She turns in her seat and pulls Rachel down into her lap. Rachel straddles Quinn's hips as a hand supports her back, she angles downward, their lips gliding against each others fervently.

After a minute, Rachel cannot help but grind down a little every time Quinn does that thing with her tongue that drives her insane. Her head lulls back as Quinn blazes a trail down the side of her neck while sliding a hand down to get a full grip of her ass.

"Mmm, let's get over to the bed," Rachel groans out, continuing to roll her hips down onto Quinn's lap.

Quinn releases her from her grip allowing her to get to her feet again. Rachel reaches forward gently, taking Quinn's hand and leading her over to the bed.

"Are you sure? We still haven't eaten?" Quinn quirks an eyebrow at Rachel, as if to make sure she's ready for what they're about to do.

She tugs at the hand encased in her own until Quinn is on top of her on the bed. That sexy lipbite is back again and Rachel feels a shiver go through her entire body before yanking Quinn down to meet her kiss. They continue this for…Rachel has no idea how long, but she does know that she needs more, now.

"I…need you," She whines.

"What exactly _do_ you need?" Is what's asked of Rachel, and she wants to reply, _'Everything,'_ but she cannot verbalize anything clearly at the moment.

Soon, their shirts are off and they are carrying on as before, that is until Quinn snakes a hand down between them to cup Rachel through her pants. The moan that erupts from her throat is obscene and Rachel begins to quiver with how nervous she is.

"Is that, too much?" Quinn's eyes convey just how careful she intends to be and Rachel wants to reassure her that she hasn't done anything wrong. She wants this, it's just the pressure to perform has never been this nerve-wracking. She feels as if this is her first time all over again, yet this time she knows for sure she's ready.

"It's not enough actually, we need to get completely undressed."

They squirm around to get rid of their pants, after they're off, Quinn looks up at her nervously.

"W-we don't have to do…everything. I just, want to feel you."

Quinn licks her lips as she nods, Rachel watches as she traces her fingers over the buttons on her top.

"Please," she begs for Quinn to get her out of the suffocating garment. Rachel reaches out to undo Quinn's at the same time.

Now that they are down to only their underwear, Rachel finds herself coming down with a wave of nervousness.

"So..."

"Hmm?"

"Is it okay if I'm suddenly feeling a little nervous?"

"Yes, it's more than okay Rachel. This is new to me too, I'm a little scared."

"You too, huh? It's just that…" Rachel watches her own hand as it picks at her sheet. "You're the first, since Finn and…well, I've never let _him_ see me completely naked and we were married, so…"

"Hey, look at me," Quinn gently lifts Rachel's face with a finger until they're eye to eye.

Rachel instantly feels a bit less nervous, seeing the darkness in Quinn's eyes.

"I want you to feel comfortable, so whatever you feel like doing is fine with me. We can stop-"

"No."

Quinn looks confused, but before she could say anything, Rachel covers her mouth with her own. She spreads her legs open and straddles one of Quinn's thighs, simultaneously placing a thigh between hers.

"I never said I wanted to stop," Rachel husks, she can tell Quinn is ready by the wetness she feels.

Quinn tries catching her breath, "Okay," is all she verbalizes before she starts making the sexiest noises Rachel has ever heard come out of someone's mouth.

Things kick off from there, and soon after they are completely bare. The feeling of Quinn's delicate breasts in her palms for the first time will go down as one of her greatest achievements in her life. She doesn't want to tell Quinn that this is the first time she's reached an orgasm with someone else, partially because of embarrassment and also to protect Finn's dignity.

The next morning, Rachel wakes up with her girlfriend on top of her. A head full of choppy golden locks lay upon her chest, and their legs intertwined. She can still taste Quinn's sweetness on her tongue.

"Quinn," She whispers, wiggling a little under her to wake her up.

"Mmm," Quinn lifts her head, she smiles when she comes face to face with Rachel. "Morning," she says with a shy smile.

"Good morning to you too." Rachel replies, the sunlight dances in her hazel eyes, causing her to stare in wonderment.

Last night was unbelievable, but they need to get up, it's opening night and they need to get to the theatre early.

Quinn shifts and snuggles into her even more. Rachel finds this new sensation of them naked in bed together very eye opening. She wants to wake up to this every day, but she knows it's close to impossible as long as they're still in school. Thank God for Christmas vacation, she thinks.


	11. Chapter 11

Happy belated New Year everyone! This is it, and I hope everyone enjoys the ending. Thank you for reading.

* * *

It's opening night of the show, they get to the theatre and head straight to the dressing room. Jesse is already there getting some of the younger cast warmed up vocally. He gives them a nod as they pass through.

"God, and I thought rehearsals were hectic." Quinn tells Rachel as she strips down to change into her costume. Rachel can't help but watch as it serves as a good distraction for her nervousness.

It's the best kind though, she lives for this kind of excitement backstage. It's all a part of show business and she is glad to have had this opportunity so soon in her short time here in New York.

"Five minutes 'til curtain!" The stage manager calls out.

"Break a leg out there," Rachel shuts her eyes as she sucks in a calming breath. Quinn laces her fingers through hers and some of the pressure fades away.

"You too," She pulls herself up to place a kiss on Quinn's cheek. "See you after the show for karaoke!" She chirps as her lips form an excited smile.

Last week Rachel noticed this karaoke bar near the theatre and made Quinn promise that they'll go after opening night.

Quinn narrows her eyes, "Oh right, I did agree to that didn't I?"

"Quinn,"

"I'm just kidding, I'm looking forward to it too."

Jesse holds her hand after the finale as the people in the audience applaud. During the show, the lights were dimmed and she couldn't see who she was performing for, but now, there they are. It's a full house and Rachel doesn't know if it's because of opening night or the fact that her father is played by Brian Blessed. Then she comes to the conclusion that it's probably both.

She cannot help her shocked expression upon the crowd's reaction to them calling her name. It means so much to her that her performance resonated with them enough to garner such a reaction. This is exactly what she wants to do, reach people with her voice, call out to their hearts and if she can cause just one person to cheer because they felt it, her work would be done. She did her job over one hundred fold tonight, and now all she wants to do is celebrate it with her girl.

After the last curtain falls, the she moves through the crowd backstage to try to find Quinn.

Whom she _does_ find has her almost in tears.

"Dad! Daddy!" She screams out as she becomes sandwiched in her Fathers' arms. They weren't supposed to be here until next weekend for the holidays.

"What are you doing here so early?"

"We wouldn't miss our baby girl's first show on Broadway for the world." Leroy pets his daughter's head as he smiles down proudly.

"Besides, it's your birthday tomorrow and we wanted to celebrate our only child's milestone of turning 18." Hiram explains further.

They say they'll let her celebrate with friends tonight and then she can come to stay in their hotel with them for the time that they are in town.

"Actually, that may not possible,"

Rachel feels bad that she hasn't had a chance to tell them about Quinn, but this is the perfect time to do it, while they are here in person.

"I'm seeing someone and we planned on spending some time together,"

"Wait a minute, you're ditching your fathers for a guy during Chrismukkah?" Hiram frowns.

"No, Daddy, I'm not…" A flash of blonde catches her eye and she looks over to see Quinn with Kurt, Santana, and Brody coming over to them.

"I have a girlfriend, her, over there." She points to Quinn and her Fathers both turn to where she is.

"Those are your Glee club friends, honey. Wait, are you dating Quinn?"

Rachel blushes, "Yes." She says shyly.

The group finally approaches and Quinn smiles tightly at her, she can tell she's nervous about seeing her Dads here. She reaches out a hand and Quinn hesitantly takes it, allowing her to pull her close.

They all say their hellos to her, and Kurt and surprisingly, Brody have brought her flowers. She doesn't miss the look on Quinn's face when Brody hands them to her.

"You made it, thanks." Rachel tells him as she accepts the bouquet.

"I wouldn't miss tonight for anything."

Rachel is delighted with the unwavering support from her friends.

"Thanks, all of you for coming to see us, um, oh! Brody, these are my Dads, Hiram and Leroy." She tells him as she gestures to each of them at the mention of their names.

Brody perks up, "Oh, hello sirs," he gives them both a hand shake, "Rachel looks just like, both of you, a little."

"Well, after carrying her for nine months, I would hope so." Leroy says, and everyone laughs at his joke.

Everyone except Rachel, "Alright, Dad, Daddy, you guys remember Quinn." She feels Quinn squeeze her hand and she squeezes right back before letting her go.

"Yes we do, hello Quinn. I hear you two are seeing each other now,"

"Yes sir. Hello Mr. uh and Mr. Berry." Quinn stammers as she shakes their hands.

Rachel finds it funny that Quinn is actually nervous when she's usually so collected.

"Great! Now everybody's been introduced and reacquainted, Dad, Daddy, we're going to go and I'll come see you at your hotel tomorrow. So, go get some rest okay?"

Hiram narrows his eyes, "Well, if you're going to rush us off like that,"

Rachel looks over at the group and at Quinn who's standing closer and pretending she's not listening. She leans in closer to her father to whisper.

"Daddy, please? I really want to go to karaoke and no one else's parents will be there,"

"Alright," Leroy kisses the top of his daughters head, "We did tell you that you could go out tonight, but tomorrow is definitely Daddy/Daughter day, got it?"

"Definitely. I love you," She squeezes them both tightly, "Bye,"

Rachel turns around and skips back over to the group with Quinn by her side.

"Alright guys, we're going to this place me and Quinn found recently, it's right outside of the theatre. We have to hurry to ensure we get a good table."

"Wait a minute, what kind of place is this? A bar, a club, where are you taking us Berry?" Santana looks at her suspiciously.

"Santana just, trust me okay, I think we _all_ will enjoy it."

She sees Quinn smiling brightly at her friend, she knows Santana might think she's too cool to sing at a karaoke bar, seeing as she's a recording artist now.

Then she looks over and sees Jesse sitting in a chair by the changing area looking like a lonesome puppy.

"I'll be right back," She whispers to Quinn, receiving a frown of confusion. As she walks by, she notices Kurt and Brody involved in a little small talk. She has to put a cap on her excitement for future double dates with them in order to reach her initial destination.

"Jesse?"

He looks at her and smiles, "Rachel, great job tonight, although you need to work on keeping a straight face when receiving the loudest applause of the night, but I think you'll get used to it overtime."

"Thanks I guess? You were good tonight as well, although you need to work on your social skills a little, come with us to karaoke."

His frown turns into a smile by the time she makes her request. He shakes his head as he laughs, "I'd love to."

They get to the karaoke bar and are seated at a six-seater table next the wall and soon it is covered with an array of bar food and drinks.

"Okay Berry, ow!" Santana glares at Quinn, "sorry,_ Rachel_, even though I think I'm probably breaking my contract if I sing tonight, I'd like to congratulate you and my girl on a successful opening night." She lifts her glass, making sure everyone else does as well and toasts them.

"Thank you very much Santana, and everyone else, but we really wouldn't be here without Jesse St. James. He's the one who got Quinn and me into the show, so we have him to thank as well."

They all cheer for Jesse and Rachel thinks that the smile spread across his face is the most genuine one she's ever seen on him. Despite her feelings about the beginning of their reunion, she thinks that staying friends with him will be beneficial to her career on Broadway.

"Okay, settle down, I just have to address this, doesn't anyone else notice?"

They all look at each other, wondering what Santana is talking about.

"Really? You guys haven't noticed? Pretty much everyone at this table is some sort of gay, I just realized and it's blowing my mind."

Rachel's and pretty much everyone else's mouths drop open. Here she goes.

"Santana," Quinn tries to stop her.

"No seriously Q, first we have Kurt, he knew he was gay the day he was born, and I don't even know you," She gestures to Brody.

"But I saw the way you were talking to Kurt earlier. It's not uncommon for presumably straight guys to find themselves attracted to effeminate men such as Kurt. And it doesn't mean you're gay, but you aren't so straight either." She tilts her head as she narrows her eyes at him.

Brody opens his mouth and closes it back shut again.

Santana puts up a hand, "You don't have to say anything, I've always had great gaydar, and you, St. Fame, I've heard rumors about you back during your Vocal Adrenaline days so…"

Rachel turns sharply to face him, his eyebrows have shot straight up, but he doesn't say anything. She wonders if this was going on back when they were dating.

"And then we have Ellen and Portia over here, who are practically married. It's sickening really, and finally me, the most awesome lesbian vixen soon to be topping all of the charts." She chuckles delightedly, she seems really proud of herself for calling them out.

"Anyway, that's all I wanted to say, so who's up first?"

Rachel mulls over what Santana just said as she looks up at Quinn, she wonders which one of them is Ellen and which is Portia. Quinn is pretty funny, at least to her, and she likes to dance, so maybe she's Ellen? At the mention of singing, Rachel is snapped out of her thoughts to be the first one up on the stage.

Since it's the holidays, they sing Christmas songs. Rachel sings a duet with Brody, and she got Kurt to sing with Quinn after. Santana treated the entire bar with a sultry rendition of Santa Baby and Jesse sang The Christmas Song.

After a fun night of karaoke, she and Quinn announce their departure before leaving. There's a chill in the air, and Rachel bundles herself more tightly into her coat, she really hopes it snows for Chrismukkah.

Quinn wraps an arm over her shoulders as they try to hail a cab.

"You know since my Dads have come early, they want me to stay with them for the holidays,"

"Oh, so, we're not doing Christmas morning in your dorm then?"

"Um, I don't want to break our plans together, I'll talk to them tomorrow, they want to spend the day together,"

"I heard."

"Are you disappointed?"

"A little Rachel, they didn't even know about us, if they had they may have considered me before making all these plans without me."

Rachel grimaces, she hates that she hurt Quinn by not telling her Dads right away.

"You don't have to, now that you're mad at me, but you could come with me to stay with my Dads."

"I'm not mad, it's like you said, just, disappointed. I'll come, maybe we could get our own room at the same hotel? I really want to know what exactly it is you do on your mixture of Christmas and Hanukkah."

"Oh my goodness, yes! That's a great idea honey! I knew there was a reason I keep you around."

Before Quinn could respond, Rachel wraps her up into a crushing hug, her birthday wish just came true even though it isn't until tomorrow. It's close enough to midnight, so it counts.

The next morning she wakes up in Quinn's arms. Enveloped in warmth, she turns around to place a kiss on the tip of her girlfriend's nose.

"Happy Birthday, baby." Quinn mumbles.

"Thank you," Rachel kisses her despite Quinn's protests about morning breath. She's too happy to care today.

They go for breakfast together before Rachel goes off to meet her Dads at their hotel. They treat to a day in the city allowing her to do any and everything she wants. She makes sure that Quinn comes to her birthday dinner as well as Kurt.

The next day Rachel gets her mail, there's a letter in there from Finn. She's surprised since she just sent off his first care package, so she rips it open and reads it on her way back to her room.

_Dear Rachel, _

_How are you doing? Good I hope. Is it weird that I miss you a little? It's really cold in Texas and they have us up every morning before the sun is even out but other than that, I like it so far. I'm learning so much and it turns out all those hours of playing Call of Duty weren't for nothing. Kurt sent me a letter, he says you're dating someone but he didn't say who. I don't care as long as you're happy. I've been thinking, about our marriage and the fact that you're just about to turn 18. I went ahead and sent for the paperwork for a divorce. That way, you and whoever you're dating can be doing that without breaking the law or whatever. You can sign them and send them in 'cause I already signed my part. And Happy Birthday now that I mentioned it, I remember it's the 18__th__, always a week before Christmas. It's gonna suck when that day comes, no apple pie from my mom, no presents, man. Anyway, I hope to hear from you soon, bye. _

–_Finn_

Rachel holds the letter to her chest as she takes in a long deep breath. He's officially letting her go and she couldn't be happier. She unfolds the paperwork, looking over it quickly, making sure to read most of it before signing it. She'll take it to city hall on Thursday.

"What are you mailing?"

Rachel spins on her heels to face Quinn, "Oh nothing, just finalizing my divorce with Finn."

"What? Already? Are you okay?" Quinn asks worriedly.

"Why wouldn't I be? He's managing well through basic training, so I don't have any more obligations towards him."

"So it's finally over? Hmm, I guess now I can finally enjoy you without holding back."

"You were holding back? Even last night?"

Rachel blushes as the memory washes over her, if Quinn was really holding back, she cannot wait until the next time they're together.

A few days later, and she gets her proof of Quinn's holding back before, as they spend their first night together in their own hotel room.

Having Quinn here to be a part of her family's holiday celebration has been heart-warming to Rachel. She didn't expect them all to be so comfortable around each other so quickly, but she's glad that they are. Her Dads love Quinn, which isn't a surprise, and their charm isn't lost on Quinn either.

"I'm so happy you came to spend Chrismukkah with me," Rachel tells Quinn as they leave the hotel together.

They go out to get some coffee, really just to take a break from all of the festivities and to talk alone.

"Well I'm happy to have you, I don't know what I would be doing if it weren't for you."

Rachel feels horrible for Quinn and her family situation. She wishes she could fix it, but including Quinn into their Chrismukkah celebration is hopefully making her feel a little better about it.

As they approach the counter, Rachel sees Donald from her dance class.

"Hey, Donald," Rachel calls out before she realizes that he's probably with his girlfriend.

He looks over at her and smiles brightly, "Hey Rachel, Merry Christmas, unless you're Jewish, then Happy Hanukkah."

"I celebrate both actually,"

"Oh cool, well, um, this is my girlfriend Laura. Laura this is Rachel from my dance class that I told you about."

Rachel is surprised to hear that he talked to his girlfriend about her.

"Oh, really? You didn't tell me she was this pretty. Hi, I'm sorry, but we have this deal where we tell each other about people we find attractive in school just to keep track."

"Oh okay, well hello, this is my girlfriend Quinn," Rachel looks over to Quinn who looks just as uncomfortable as she feels.

"Wow, hi, you don't share any classes with Donald do you?" Laura asks Quinn.

"Hi, and no I do not. I actually go to Yale and Donald really isn't my type anyway, so you're good."

Rachel giggles at Quinn, she loves how she keeps a straight face when she jokes like that. Donald and Laura ask them to join them at a table while they order.

Quinn nudges Rachel's shoulder with her own. Rachel looks up to catch her quickly raised brow. She can decipher Quinn making sure she's okay with sitting with them, so she gives her a small nod, receiving one back as they grab their coffees.

Surprisingly, chatting with Donald and his girlfriend isn't really awkward at all. They are just two couples, sitting together at a café in New York City.

Rachel feels like her life right now couldn't get any better. She's with Quinn and they're happy, she made it through the first semester of college, and she's in an Off-Broadway production. So many things have changed, with herself, as well as her relationships, but everything feels right, and normal. She knows that this is only the beginning and she cannot wait to see what the future holds for her.

* * *

Epilogue

It's a new year and time for a new start, second semester has begun and having a new dance instructor has been the highlight of her week. The anonymous complaints sent by several students including herself, caused the dean to look into Ms. July's misconduct with her students and she has been let go.

Today, she's spending her first day this week with Quinn and so far, they cannot keep their hands off of each other.

"I missed you, even though it's only been a few days," Quinn whispers between kisses.

"I missed you too," Rachel whispers as her lips graze the smooth skin of Quinn's neck.

Her phone rings and she groans before answering it. Even though it's Kurt, she's going to tell him to call her back later or maybe tomorrow so that won't have any more interruptions tonight.

"Kurt, we're busy, can you call me back later?"

"Uh, Rachel, Finn's on the line."

"Huh? Oh, um, hey Finn. How are you?"

"I'm doing good, I guess you're with the guy right now, how are things going?"

"Um, I'm h-happy," She hesitates because she knew this day would come, she just hoped it'd be later on. She's going to have to tell Finn about her and Quinn.

"Kurt, I think I have to tell him."

"Are you sure? Because,"

She takes in a deep breath as she locks eyes with Quinn from across the room. "Um, yeah, I think so."

"Tell me what? What are you guys talking about?" Finn asks.

"Finn," She starts.

'_Be gentle Rachel, but straight to the point.'_

"I have to tell you, about the person I'm with now. It's someone you know, _very_ well."

"What? Who?"

She looks up at Quinn again, "Quinn…I'm in a relationship with Quinn now."

Silence. Rachel hopes he didn't hang up, if he has a problem with it, he should just talk to her instead of being a baby about it.

"Are you still there?" She asks.

He clears his throat. "Is she there with you? Can I talk to her?"

Rachel frowns. Why does he want to speak to Quinn?

"Quinn," she calls, holding out the phone to her. Quinn's eyebrows shoot up, but she reaches for the phone anyway.

"Hello. Hey Finn, I've been doing alright."

Rachel smiles tightly, maybe he just wants to catch up.

"Yes…no, I know it's hard to believe, but I really care about Rachel…what? No…can we just agree that this is something you probably will never understand? Finn, I know that…but I love her too much for that to happen, alright?"

Quinn's pacing, Rachel cannot hear what Finn's saying to her, but she can tell he's inappropriately questioning the nature of their relationship.

"We _will_ see, without you here to mess everything up. Yeah, whatever,"

Quinn shoves the phone back in her direction and Rachel fumbles to get it up to her ear.

"Finn, what was all that about?" Rachel asks as she eyes Quinn across the room. She is still visibly upset and avoiding eye-contact with her.

"You're in love with her?" He asks angrily.

Rachel doesn't like his hostile tone, and the fact that he upset Quinn. How can he be angry about this? He was fine when he thought she was dating a guy.

"Yes I am." She answers back sternly.

"I can understand that, it's just…you and Quinn never said anything about being into girls and now suddenly you tell me you're together and in love? I don't know how I feel about this…"

"Well, that's just it, it's not about how _you_ feel really. We didn't get together thinking about how you'd would take this, it just happened naturally over time. We started as friends and it turned into something I will cherish forever."

"So I meant nothing,"

"No, Finn, you were my first _everything_, and I will always appreciate our time together. But, as your letter even said, we made some huge mistakes in our relationship in order to force it to work. Being with Quinn, nothing is forced, and we just fall into place together. It has nothing to do with the fact that we're 'into girls', it's about the way she makes me feel when we're together. Can you understand that?"

Quinn walks over and sits down beside her on the bed. She slips her hand into Rachel's and leans her head over, connecting with Rachel's.

"When I first heard that you were happy, I was happy for you, but now…this is gonna take me some time, okay?"

"And that's okay Finn. I didn't expect you to throw us a party over this. I just felt you needed to know."

"Yeah, well, I have to go, I've already been on too long. Goodbye Rachel,"

Rachel hangs up the phone and drops it onto the comforter, and Quinn places a gentle kiss to her lips. She slides her hand into her hair as they deepen the kiss. Rachel doesn't hold back the moan that bubbles up in the back of her throat.

She pulls back to look into the glossy hazel eyes before her, aside from the obvious lust, she finds sincere devotion there as Quinn drags her fingers down her arm. She licks her lips hungrily, and Rachel melts at the sight.

Rachel didn't know it was possible, but after talking to Finn, she feels as if her love for Quinn has deepened significantly. This time when they make love, Rachel cries, she feels as if they've created an emotional bond that can never be broken.

Looking up to see the watery smile on Quinn's face, she knows she feels it too. This is a new chapter in their life together, and Rachel wants nothing more than to keep going as they are now.

The End


End file.
